Recent Projects

I thought I'd share some recent projects I've done since my disappearing a few months ago.  I did sew during that time I was gone, I promise!  First up is a bag I made my mother for her birthday.  It is from a pattern I bought a long time ago and I don't have it handy right now to tell you the name of it.  It had two sizes of bag patterns inside and I made the larger one, thinking she may use it to take to her once-a-month sew day with her friends or on vacation.  She liked it.  After I finished it, I wished I would've paid more attention to how the squares on the pocket were going to end up because, as you can probably see, I had two of the same print together, but live and learn.  I love making bags and this was a fun one to make, but a little time-consuming.  It's ok - she's worth it.  I'd make it again.

Next is a set of coasters that I made for us with our initials on the tabs.  Cort actually got the green one with the star button so we wouldn't get it confused with Cidney's.  He knows his is the one with the star. 

And then there's this little picture plaque I made for the mothers and grandmothers for Mother's Day.  They were from this tutorial on Little Birdie Secrets.  I think I made 5 of these and still need to make one for us to have at home.  I also made some dish towels that were inspired from this picture on flickr.com.  Forgot to take pictures of them. 

Here are some little cosmetic bags I made for the mothers at church for Mother's Day.  I love making little things like this and I love doing things in an assembly line, so these really didn't take that long to finish. 

And, last but not least, something I did not make, but that my mother did.  It's a stuffed scottie dog made out of squares (5"?)  It was for her nephew, my 2nd cousin, Ethan for his 1st bday. 

Here he is and here it is, held by my sweet nephew, Drake.  (How many cute kids can one family have, I ask you?)

Ok, I better go get dinner started.  I should've done that 45 minutes ago.  Now Brad got called out to work and won't get to eat it until late tonight.  Cidney's in the kitchen making peanut butter blossoms (yum) so we'll have to fight for cooking space.  Tomorrow, I will show you the I Spy quilt that Conner's memaw made him for his first birthday.  See you then!

Popcorn for Breakfast

So, I saw on Brown Eyed Baker a recipe (if you can call it that) for Homemade Popcorn.  I bought some popcorn kernels and popcorn salt the other day and we have made popcorn every day since.  In fact, yesterday, Cidney and I had popcorn for breakfast.  She said, 'Mom, will you make popcorn?'  I said, 'No.'  She said, 'Please?'  I said, 'No.'  And so on and so on until I finally gave in.  And then we had popcorn again last night while Cort watched tv and the rest of us read or played on our iPods.  It is really so much better than microwave popcorn and just takes a tad bit longer, but it is very worth the wait.  Here's the link if you want to try it, although the recipe on the side of the popcorn kernel jar is exactly the same - How to Make Perfect Homemade Popcorn.  And if you look on her home page, you'll find her Salted Chocolate Shortbread cookie recipe that looks so delicious.  I think we may try that this weekend.

I want to share this video of a great singing family that visited our church a few weeks ago.  They were a blessing to us on our Old-Fashioned Western Sunday and we are so happy to have met them.  Very talented family.  This is my favorite song that they sang, although all of them were so good.  Rochester Family - Ephesians Chapter 1.

See y'all tomorrow.

Poof!

Did you like my little disappearing act?  And how I reappeared, almost 4 months to the day from when I disappeared?  Pretty cool, eh? 

So, really, very sorry for disappearing for so long.  Things got busy (still are, actually), but my lovely daughter says I should start blogging again.  And I know I should.  So, I'm gonna. 

Right now I'm working on two things:  a bunch of projects and nothing at all.  Some days are many-project days.  Some days are a little laundry and not much else days.  Weekends are full of church, which I love.  Pretty soon we'll have days filled with homeschooling (our first year!).  But for now, I am just going to find something to blog every day.  I promise.  Even if it is some silly thing I found on the internet or a Bible verse I read that helped me.  Just some little thing.  Hope you'll come back and see me again soon.  I won't leave you hanging this time.  :)

Baby in a Backpack and Other Random-ness

Long time, no blog, eh?  Busy times around here, but that's the way I like it.  I got a couple of things made last week, so I'll share one of them with you today.  The other is waiting to be delivered and was a birthday gift to my mom, so it will have to wait until she gets it. 

But first, I have to show you a cute picture of Cid and Conner that I took before Cidney went to school the other day. 

She was ready to cart him off to school with her.  I love the way he's looking at her.  'Uh, sissy, are you sure this will be ok with mama?'

Ok, now that we've got those cutie-patooties out of the way, here are three little bunnies I made to go in the kids' Easter bags.  The tutorial came from Chubby Hobby's blog.  They were easy little things - probably took me about 2 hours total including stuffing. 

The only thing I did differently from the tutorial was that I machine stitched the arms on the body instead of embroidering them.  It was a little bit of a time-saver.

And, before I forget, I have to give a big shout out to my hubby.  He has lost 17 pounds in our church's weight-loss challenge.  He's shrinking by the minute.  So proud of you, honey.  Me, I'm only at 6 pounds, but I haven't really been trying hard.  I've cut down on eating and we're eating more veggies and less casseroles and pastas, but I need to jump on the train here.  6 pounds in 4 weeks ain't much.  Maybe I can make it 10 total by the next weigh-in.

I'm going to go and finish working on a project my mom and I are doing long-distance.  We're exchanging two Dresden plates (plates only, no backgrounds yet) every month.  I haven't even finished my March ones, so I'm doing that now.  Actually, this is what I'm doing now:

Sewing about 300 million trillion hundred thousand billion Dresden block wedges.  Then I will have to flip and press these little lovelies, which will take about 3 days.  Or 9. 

I also need to sit and plan what I'm cooking for our dinner Friday night.  It's our 4 year anniversary.  I'm thinking Pioneer Woman's Steak with Burgundy-Mushroom Sauce.  Mandy tried it and raved about it.  I think I make at least one of PW's recipes a week.  Seriously, if you haven't made anything of hers, go and look on her blog and find something you can make soon.  Everything I've tried of hers is wonderful.  She's my new best friend.   Tomorrow night I'm making her Spaghetti and Meatballs and tonight, maybe her favorite sandwich.  That is, if I can get my hiney in gear and go to Wal-Mart to get the ingredients. 

I Just Had to Do It

It's all Mandy's fault.  She posted on Facebook that she made sugar cookies and, well, I just had to bake some.  I don't know what recipe she used, but I had one in mind that I wanted to make.  I haven't baked in a long time.  It wasn't that I was craving the cookies, it was that I needed to bake.  So I gave in.  And I know I'm trying to lose weight.  And I only had 1/2 cookie and a spoonful of dough.  But I shared an apple with Cort and promise I'll eat well the rest of the day.  And I'll exercise extra. 

Go make some of these now.  They are fast, big, and delicious.  Joy the Baker sure knows her stuff, huh?

Giant Vanilla Sugar Cookies

The recipe made about 18 cookies (19, I guess if I hadn't eaten a spoonful of dough).  I made them really big - 4 or 5 inches.  I thought about rolling the dough into a ball and then rolling the ball in sugar, but I just got a big dollop in the spoon and plopped it on the cookie sheet, flattened it with my fingers, and sprinkled some sugar on top.  Soooo yummy.

Oh Fransson quilt

I am back from Spring Break in Texas and am ready to get sewing!  My mom always does that - motivates me to get busy when she shows me all of her latest projects.  We didn't have time this go-around to actually do any crafting, but we did get to make tamales (a success!) and plan Brad's Harley t-shirt quilt.  I also borrowed a few patterns from her for future makings.  For now, though, I want to show you the fabric I chose to make Oh Fransson's latest project, the New Wave Quilt.  I've been wanting to do something with black and lime green, so this will be it.  I know it will be lovely.

If you haven't explored her site, go look when you get time.  She has so many helpful tips and beautiful quilts.  I love that her blocks are very traditional, but in modern fabrics and colors.  And that girl cranks out a quilt almost every day, it seems.  She must not have any short people in her life.  Oh, well, I wouldn't trade mine for anything, so I will just get done what I can get done. 

I'll be back in a couple of days with some progress on this and other projects, Lord willing.  I have to keep chanting, Harley quilt, Harley quilt, Harley quilt.  Maybe I'm not motivated to work on it since it's not pretty colors - just black and grey.  But I will get it done for my honey - and soon.

Things I Really Want to Eat -- or -- How I Came to Look the Way I Do

At least I can laugh about it, right?

Today's Nothing Much

Not much going on today, but I wanted to post the new recipe I tried Tuesday night and something I made recently that I forgot to post.  What, me?  Forget?  Noooooo.

The fish tacos were yummy.  Brad loved them and my kids even ate the fish.  That surprised me.  We kind of have a what's-on-the-table-is-all-you-get policy.  I never make anything completely out of the realm of what they like, so pretty much everything is something they should eat.  We might have one of their un-favorite veggies as a side now and then, but they manage.  I think it's a good rule.  We can't choose everything in life - sometimes you gotta do what you don't necessarily want to do.  When Cid was little and went to preschool, the teachers would say, 'You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.'  Much to her chagrin, I still tell her that at times.

Spicy Marinated Fish Tacos

from Tasty Kitchen

1 lb. Tilapia fillets, cut into chunks

tortillas

tomatoes

black beans

lettuce

mozzarella cheese

olive oil, to fry tortillas

Marinade:

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. vinegar

1 1/2 t. honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. fresh lime juice

1/2 t. cumin

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay

1/2 t. ground black pepper

1 t. hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Dressing:

1 (8 oz.) container light sour cream

2 T. fresh lime juice

1/4 t. cumin

1/4 t. chili powder

1/2 t. seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay

To make the marinade, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, honey, garlic, cumin, chili powder, seafood seasoning, black pepper, and hot sauce in a bowl until blended.  Place the tilapia in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over the fish.  Cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.

To make the dressing, combine the sour cream with lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and seafood seasoning.  Add salt and pepper in desired amounts.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

To fry tortillas, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and fry tortillas until golden (about 2-3 minutes over med-high heat).

After frying the tortillas, place fish in the pan and cook until easily flaked with a fork, turning twice (about 9 minutes).

To assemble tacos, place fish pieces in the center of tortillas with desired amounts of tomatoes, black beans, and lettuce; drizzle with dressing.  Garnish with cheese, if desired.

You can really garnish with whatever you like on your tacos. We added avocado and onion and left off lettuce because we didn't have any. We used white corn tortillas and sprinkled fresh lime juice over the taco after it was built. Very delicious and light. And light matters for us lately - Brad and I lost 4 lbs. each this week in our Let's Get Skinny challenge at church. Yea us!

And now for Thursday's craftiness - some new pillow cases I made for our bed.  They don't necessarily match anything, but they don't not match, either.  *double negative much?*  I just loved the pretty bird fabric and found a coordinating plaid to use for Brad's.  Ha!  Plaid for Brad. 

Anywho, like I said, nothing much for today, but at least I posted.  My goal was to do every day this week, but I didn't get around to it yesterday.  But I will be back tomorrow with tonight's dinner recipe, Lord willing.  Green Chile Stew for my crew.  Should be a slam for my fam.  A big bang for my gang.  

Ok, I'm done.   

See ya tomorrow.

Finally Finished

I've been working on these aprons on and off for about 3 weeks.  The pattern is called the Four Corners Apron from Vanilla House Designs.  I think if you could sit down and devote time to make one, it should only take a couple of hours.  Very easy - although I despise turning skinny things like the ties and neck strap right side out.  That took me longer than putting the rest of the apron together did.  Fiddle dee dee - 'tis done now.

One of these is for a gift, the other I just made because sometimes it's just as easy to make two and then I'll have a gift to give sometime if I need it.  Cid doesn't need one because her darling Memaw made her two and sent them to her last month.  Here they are:

I just love the half apron.  One of my favorite Alexander Henry fabrics. 

Ok, I guess I better get going on tonight's dinner - Spicy Marinated Fish Tacos.  Yum-o.  Will post the recipe and pics later. 

Do-Over!

I know, I know.  I disappeared for a couple of weeks.  I have a whole list of excuses for why I haven't blogged in so long.  Conner got RSV.  We were getting ready for vacation, then we left for vacation.  We came back from vacation early, which meant Brad was home, which meant I was hanging out with him and just being a little lazy.  Don't think I haven't thought about blogging, though.  I think I just needed things to be back to normal so I could get back into the groove.  So now Brad is back at work and I'm trying to clean up my house from the last couple of weeks.  I have so much sewing I want to do and cleaning I need to do.  I have a whole pile of new recipes I want to try, too.  And I want to share it all with you!  I just have to get my head back where it needs to be. 

So here's my plan:  I am going to try and clean something every day.  Doing laundry counts.  Vacuuming the floor counts.  Major cleaning, of course, counts.  Organizing something can work, too.  I am also going to try to make something every day.  Make a card, sew on my latest project, sew on a new project.  I'm even going to try and think about gifts I might need in the next months and work on that if my current project is boring me.  I even think trying a new recipe could be my 'make' project for the day if I haven't gotten to something else.  I've been trying to make my meal plan for the weekdays and grocery list for those meals on the weekend, so I'll try to continue that.  And I'll share the recipes I make with you - new or old.  Really, these goals are just going to make my life easier and that will make everyone happier.  I'll keep track of what my weekly plans are on my weekly to-do list that I got at Michael's for $1.  Here's a picture of that if you want to look for one like it.  You can find them anywhere. 

As a family, we have committed to a couple of new goals, too.  Among them, being more active as a family.  We'll take a walk or go outside and play.  With the weather getting nicer and time changing soon, these will be easier and more fun for us.  Also, we're going to start having a Bible study or story every night.  And not so much TV!!  We made a list for Cidney of our expectations for her, so she knows what she needs to do without us harping on her.  Isn't it nice to try and better yourself?  I know we'll fall off the wagon at times or we'll get busy and our routine will be off, but we'll try to jump back on and do what we have been doing because we know it will make us all happier.  If you have a busy family like we do, this may be worth a try.  It definitely keeps the stress level down.  Let me know if you try it and maybe along the way we can compare notes. 

On another subject, I've been wanting to share these sweet Valentine cards that my mom made for us.  She sent them along with some yummy Valentine cookies, but sadly, I can't show you pictures of those because, well, we ate them.  That same day.  Oh, cookies.  How I love you.  But I can't have you anymore because I'm too fat and I'm trying to take care of that, too.  Anyway, here's the cards:

Don't you love them?  She's so awesome.  She's my inspiration for many things.

Ok, tonight's dinner recipe coming up.  Lots of veggies in it because we're trying to lose weight.  But even when we weren't trying, it's sooooo good.  Usually we have it with cornbread, but you know, we're fat, so no cornbread for us.  Here are recipes for both:

  

             

Hamburger Soup

1 lb. ground beef

1 c. chopped onion

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans

1 c. sliced carrots

1 c. sliced celery

1/4 c. uncooked regular rice

2 (18 oz.) cans stewed tomatoes

3 1/2 c. water

5 beef boullion cubes

1 T. parsley flakes

1 t. salt

1/4 t. dried basil

1/8 t. pepper

1 c. green beans

Cook ground beef and onions in large saucepan until beef is browned.  Drain off fat.  Add remaining ingredients except for green beans.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer covered for 40 minutes.  Add green beans and simmer another 10 minutes.

Cornbread

1 c. flour

1 c. corn meal

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. sugar

1 c. milk

2 eggs

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

Mix all ingredients together.  Pour in greased 9" cake pan and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

There you go!  For the soup this time, I used ground turkey and lots more vegetables than the recipe calls for, thus more water and beef boullion.  I've become the cook that doesn't measure much unless I'm baking, so I couldn't tell you how much of anything I put in.  Just use your best judgment based on your preferences.  We like more hearty than broth-y soups, so that's what I make and I usually make enough for us to have leftovers at least one night.  The cornbread is the best I've ever had and is so easy, you won't miss using a store-bought mix.  Just try it and you'll never go back to cornbread in a box.

Happy Monday!

V-Day Eve

Morning!  Just a quick little post today to show you my latest crafty endeavor.  I made these cute (and very easy) candy bags for our Valentine Day party at church today.  It's a party for the kids - pizza, chocolate, crafts, and games included.  Our Pastor and his wife were nice enough to organize this so the parents could go out for lunch ALONE.  Huh, alone?  What's that?

I just filled snack-size baggies with cheap candy and stapled the decorated top on.  It's just a cardstock rectangle (6 3/4" x 4") folded in half and decorated with stickers.  Too easy and really inexpensive.  If you do this for someone besides little short people that will immediately rip it open and devour what's inside, you might take a little more time and staple, then decorate so your staples are covered. 

And, finally, a picture of what my short person #2 did while I blogged the other day. 

At least the kid can draw a balloon.  On my floor.  Good thing it's only linoleum. When the cat's away...

Have a lovely Heart Day!  Eat something bad.

Cutie Cards

Hello again.  Sorry for my long absence.  My sweet grandmother visited me last week while Brad was out of town, so I didn't find time for blogging.  I have many things to talk about, so I'll try to catch up by the time next week rolls around.

On a Valentine note, a dear friend at church, Laura, asked me to make some Valentine cards for her 4 children and 4 grandchildren.  I like making cards, but am kind of intimidated by it.  I sat down Tuesday afternoon and worked on them for a few hours and then finished them up yesterday morning.  It was a lot of fun.  I didn't let myself stress about it, and just made them and decided I'd be happy with them.  Laura was happy with them, too, I think.  Wanna see?

I tried not to use only pink and red and not so many hearts and girlie stuff, since most of the cards were for boys.  Then I put all the stuff away and remembered I hadn't made cards for my own kids and hubby.  I will get it back out today and do that. 

Before I go, I will share the first recipe I made from the latest Mixing Bowl magazine.  It's a different kind of Banana Bread.  It was good, not overly sweet, and very moist.  I only just liked it.  Brad, Cid, Cort, and I all had a slice and then I gave the rest of it away.  It's better for us that way, because if we keep it around here, we eat it.  All of it.  In like a day.  Sometimes less than that.  We're bad like that.  Anywho, you try it.  Here's the link:  Banana Bread with Cherries and Pecans.  Next on my list:  Pillsbury Devil's Food Cake Mix cupcakes with Easy Vanilla Bean Cupcake Filling with Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting.  Oh. My. Gosh. Yummy.

Hey, by the way, check out my awesome cousin Mandy's blog.  She's got a recipe thing going - 100 new recipes this year.  Gotta love her for that.  Among the ones I want to try:  Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies and Southern-Style Strawberry Cake, both from one of my absolute favorites, Joy the Baker. 

Heart Day

Valentine's Day is creeping up on us.  I love the hearts and colors of this day, even though it is pretty commercialized.  But you can make it all about the LOVE in your house.  Make something pretty for someone you love this year.  Here's some ideas:

1. Big Valentine Heart Cookies, 2. vday goodie bag 05, 3. I love you Mr. Starbucks, 4. valentine's cupcake, 5. Love Shack for LauraJay, 6. Valentine's Day 2010, 7. valentine table square, 8. Quilted Heart Gift Tags, 9. Its official I am one of those annoying Moms.....

Magazine Love

Have you seen this magazine?  I think it only comes out quarterly, but it's definitely a winner in my book.  I buy food magazines often and most of the time I wish I hadn't bought them.  There are usually a few recipes in a magazine that I decide I want to try but, considering there are probably 50 recipes (or more) in some magazines, buying one is kind of a waste of money.  One of our favorite recipes - Chicken Spaghetti came out of the last issue of Mixing Bowl, so when I saw a new issue at Target today, I didn't even look inside it and put it in my basket.  I am soooo glad I did.  I dog-eared pages that had recipes I wanted to try and guess how many I found?  22!  Almost everything in there looks so delicious.  I can't wait to get to cookin'!  Go buy this magazine!

Oh, and on another food-related note, please, please, if you have green chiles hanging around, put some on your next grilled cheese sandwich.  Apparently, this is a popular thing in this area we live.  Brad made me one the other night and now I never want to have another plain grilled cheese again.

Notebook Covers and Cake

Hey, y'all.  I finished a couple of little notebook covers today that I thought I'd share with you.  Very easy - just cut, quilted, and bound. 

 This one was just for practice so I could make sure I had the measuring part right.  I only had a fat quarter of the fabric I really wanted to use, so I decided I'd do a test-run first.  It's ok - not my favorite fabric choice, but it'll do for now.  Or maybe I'll give it to someone.   

Here's the one that I will use for my stuff.  I reeeeally love this fabric, don't you?  It is really soft and quilted beautifully.  I want to make more, but I don't have a reason to, really.  Cidney wants one for a composition book she has, so I will make that for her and then move on to other things.  Like Brad's quilt that I have been promising him for years.  Years.  That sounds bad, but it's true.  Gotta get that done.

Ok, here's that recipe I promised you.  I don't have pictures of it because, well, it got eaten.  Not just by us - we had help.   But it's the most delicious, cinnamon-y, moist cake you'll ever eat.  And it's even got a vegetable in it!  That's got to be good for you, right?

Zucchini Cake

3 eggs, beaten

1 c. oil

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

3 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 c. peeled, coarsely grated zucchini

Glaze

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

Combine first 4 ingredients; mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix.  Add grated zucchini.  Pour into greased and floured 10" Bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.  Cool 20 minutes before removing from pan.  Spoon glaze over cake.

Enjoy every bite!  And remember - it's zucchini.  It's good for you, so have two pieces. 

   

Friday Flickr Finds

I love flickr.  Does anyone else just sit for hours and look at pictures on there?  I do that at least once a week, so I thought I'd share my finds with you every Friday.  Today's subject is quilts.  Love them.  I love the way they look, the way they feel, the warmth they give.  Some are so beautiful I just want to lick them.  Is that weird?  It is - I know. I'm ok with that.  I made a little quilt of quilts for you to look at.  The Dresden Plate is for you, Mother.  Love you.

I'll be back tomorrow with a recipe for you.  Get your Bundt pans ready. 

p.s. Ok, I don't really wanna lick them, just kiss them a lot.

Our iPods have new homes

See what I made?  Two little iPod cases.  Cid's is on the right and mine is on the left.  They turned out pretty cute, I thought.  The pattern came from the Winter 2007 issue of Quilts 'n More Magazine.  My mom was my inspiration for making this (as she is for so many things I make) - she made herself one after she got an iPod, which was before I got one.  Wait, my daughter got one before I did.  Not fair.  Anyway, the pattern was easy - basically it was like making a purse, of which I've made many.  But the thing is so little, it's kind of hard to sew around at the top before you turn it out.  I got it done, though.  They're not perfect, but they'll do their job.  I think that iPhones would actually fit in here, too, as well as smaller iPods like Classic or Nano.  We have the iPod touch and they fit in there just perfectly.  Hope you like.

Hello to You!

Hi, I'm Robin.  I'm 34, a Christian, a mother of three sweet kiddos (Cidney-11, Cort-2, and Conner-5 months), and a wife to a wonderful husband, Brad.  We live in Los Lunas, New Mexico.  I've wanted to start a blog for quite a while now, but just hadn't made time for it.  I finally decided to just do it.  It won't be the best, most beautiful or professional-looking blog, but it will be fun for me to do and a great way for our family to keep up on what is going on with us.

I'm a crafty kind of girl.  I mostly sew, but I like making cards and sometimes make jewelry or a doll if I get a hankering.  I also love to cook and baking has become something I do very often lately (which shows in my waist line).  I love to hear the mmmms and ahhhs while my family gobbles up something I've made.  I try to make at least one new recipe a week and will share those with you when I do (successful or not).  I will also share some of my crafty-ness and hope that you will share your ideas with me, too. 

Are you wondering what the name of the blog means?  My grandmother told me that her Aunt Mary used to say that, when it comes to our husbands, sometimes you have to give them a 'little pat of butter'.  She meant to build up your husband, fluff his feathers, tell him you appreciate him.  I thought it was cute, so I stole it for my blog name.  Silly maybe, but it means something to me.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hoping I become a regular in your daily blog reading.