Hiatus...

Wow! I haven't posted in over 2 months! Ever since The Boy stopped sleeping 10 hours a day, it hasn't seemed possible, even with Hubby's encouragement to continue.  Oh well!  I'll post when I can :)

If anyone is still reading this, do head over to See Mommy Sew to see the cute children's clothes she's whipping up and to enter her scraps giveaway.

I have so many projects right now that I want to do and some that I've actually begun, but I'm still learning how to drag things out and work on them 10 minutes at a time and then put it all away again.  Its a whole different way of working when compared with intensive crafting for an hour or two.  It takes a lot more focus and determination; things I lack dreadfully.  A challenge!

Do you find schedule changes detrimental to your creative goals?  How do you deal with it?

Chicken Tetrazzini

Chicken Tetrazzini

1/2 T butter
cooking spray
1/2 C onion, finely chopped
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t salt
2 C cremini or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/4 C port wine
1/3 C flour
2 3/4 C chicken broth
1 1/4 C grated Parmesan
1/4 C (2 oz) cream cheese
3 C hot cooked linguini (or even better fideos or filini)
2 C chopped or shredded chicken (or turkey)
1 T breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat a large stockpot with spray, then melt butter in it. Add veggies, salt and pepper and saute over medium high heat about 4 minutes. When mushrooms are tender, add port and cook 1 minute.

Add flour, dredging veggies. Whisk mixture as it thickens - 3 minutes. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and then don to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and add cream cheese and one cup Parmesan, whisking until melted.
Add pasta and chicken, mixing. Put mixture in an Spray an 8 inch dish and fill with mixture. Mix remaining cheese and breadcrumbs, and sprinkle over pasta mixture. Bake 30 minutes until slightly browned.

Let stand before serving. Serves 6.

Philly Cheese Steak

Philly Cheese Steak

4 rolls
1/2 lb beef roast, sliced thin and chopped
2 onions
1 bell pepper (optional)
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 t crushed minced garlic
1/3 C mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb sliced provolone

Wrap rolls in foil, place in oven at 400 degrees F to warm. Slice onions (and pepper, if using) in rings and saute over low heat in butter and oil. When translucent (still with bite) remove and add meat to pan with garlic. Season with pepper. Stir fry until nicely browned but not dry. Remove warmed rolls from oven, mix together garlic and mayo together. Split rolls and spread mayo on both sides (scooping out some bread to make room for meat). Add onions to meat in pan and stir it to warm onions through. Separate into four mounds. Place slices of provolone on top of mounds. When melted, lift onto the rolls and Mangia!

Menu Plan Mondays

Well, I didn't go to Tennesee last week to see my brother :( But I did get to help friends move (across town - not away). So meals were kind of by the seat of my pants all week. But I'm getting back on the horse and trying to plan out the week's meals.

I submitted the baked beans recipe to Allrecipes.com, but it's still under review. The Chicken Curry In A Hurry and the Sesame Noodles with Chicken are both from Cheap, Healthy, Good . It's really great website - you should check it out! Head over to The Happy Housewife this week to see more Menu Plans!

Breakfast: repeat every 3 days
Scrambled Eggs and Cereal with Blueberries
Egg McMuffins
Hard boiled eggs and toast with butter and jam

Lunch: leftovers

Dinners:
Sesame Noodles with Chicken
Chicken Curry
Peppered Steak and Onions
Chicken with Chick Peas and tomatoes
BBQ pulled pork with baked beans


Peppered Steak with Onions
1 lb sirloin steak
salt and pepper
2 sweet onions, slivered
1 C balsamic vinegar

Simmer vinegar in small saucepan, stirring frequently until reduced to 1/4 C, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute onions in 2 t olive oil under very soft, stirring often to prevent burning.

Rub steak with 1 t more oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Rub gently in and then add to pan on high heat. Cook 4 minutes on each side, flipping once.

Rest steak one minute before cutting and plate with onions, then drizzle balsamic syrup over all.

Remove onions from pan.


Chicken with Chick Peas and Tomatoes makes 4 servings

2 lbs chicken breasts, roasted
1 1/2 large sweet onions
6 cloves garlic
3 cans chick peas
3 large tomatoes
3 t cumin
1/2 t cardamom
1/2 t salt

(To roast chicken, season breasts with salt and pepper and place on foil lined sheet, sprayed with oil, in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.)

Chop tomatoes roughly (2cm cubes) and set aside. Cut chicken in cubes and set aside. Chop onions roughly (2 cm approximately), and set aside. Chop garlic finely and saute with 2 t oil in a very large pan for 3 minutes. Do not let it get too brown. Add onions and chicken, stir frying until onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Season with cumin, cardamom and salt. Add chick peas and tomatoes and heat through, about 5 minutes.

Crock Pot Baked Beans makes 10 generous servings 2 1/2 C dried red kidney beans (or navy beans)

8 C water

2 t chili powder

6 T molasses

2 t salt

2 medium sweet onions, slivered

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/2 t dry mustard

1 C ketchup (or substitute 1/2 C canned tomato sauce, adding during last 4 hours of cooking)

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 C prepared yellow mustard (optional) 1. Soak beans overnight (14 hours). Begin soaking 1 day, plus several hours before you'll be serving. Method: Rinse beans (remove any stones or floating beans) and cover with water in 2 qt pot. Bring to boil for 5 minutes and turn off heat. Let soak 14 hours. Drain and cover beans with fresh room temperature water as it becomes murky (3-4 times). 2. Drain and rinse beans. Add all ingredients to 6 quart slow cooker, stir and turn on high for 12 - 14 hours. Stir and check for doneness during last 2 hours. Beans/sauce should become very dark reddish brown and texture should be tender to soft. Turn cooker to low or keep warm until ready to serve.

30-Something Tablerunner

Here's my current WIP:

It's the 30-Something Tablerunner Kit I received from Mel a few weeks back. It was so much fun to make and I love how the narrow white sashing looks against all those great 1930s prints. It's so sunshiny!

Now I just have to make the binding and put on the backing and I'll be done :) I'm thinking a red print for the binding and a blue one for the back. What do you think?

**But now it's Monday!! -Note to self: click "publish" before signing out!**

Isn't this a beautiful view from my in-laws back porch?

The sky is beautiful; just look at those marshmallow clouds!

I won!!

I can't believe I won this beautiful kit from Mel's Own Place! I don't win things!


And I am so excited to be making this table topper - it feels so good to be doing something creative after what feels like a really long break. DH probably can't wait for me to finish because the living room (where I do any craft work) is in a shambles!

Mel's Thirty-Something Table Runner is really beautiful (and she designed it herself!), and I'm just hoping mine turns out half so well. I'm finding that sewing the bias-cut triangles is a challenge for me, but I'm learning so much as I go along. Thanks so much Mel!!

Menu Plan Mondays

After reading over some really inspiring blogs (Cheap Healthy Good - seriously hilarious- and Simple Mom) I've decided to join Menu Plan Mondays over at I'm an Organizing Junkie (follow the link to see other meal plans). My plan is two-pronged: 1) eat what we already have (hence the pasta & mac'n'cheese) and 2) plan each meal with a grocery list so I buy less and throw out less at the end of the week (and hopefully save myself some time and braincells too!)

Monday:

• Lunch- Chicken Chili
  
• Dinner- Pineapple-beef Stir Fry
• Dessert- Mango Pudding
  

Tuesday:

• Lunch- Leftover stir fry
  
• Dinner- Chicken Picadillo
• Dessert- Champorado
  

Wednesday:

• Lunch- Leftover Chicken Picadillo
  
• Dinner- Hot Dogs, Beans, Mac and Cheese
• Dessert- Rice Crispy Treats
  

Thursday:

• Lunch- Leftovers
  
• Dinner- Pasta & Meatsauce with Broccoli
• Dessert- cupcakes
  

Friday: On the road!!

• Pack up Chicken Salad, whole wheat bread, trail-mix, fruit & cupcakes.

All my meat this week is out of the freezer so I only need to buy fruit to snack on and broccoli for Thursdays' dinner. And on Friday we're leaving at the crack of dawn (okay 6:30 is not really the crack of dawn...at all) to see my brother in Nashville!! Wahoo! We'll see how we do eating on the road...

Flowers...

That DH brought home yesterday. I so needed them too. It's funny how he seems to wait and wait and wait and at just the right time when I'm having a bad day and feeling really crummy, he come home and shows me he was thinking about me and loves me in such a tangible and beautiful way.


I is a lucky girl.

Pink Saturday

A very happy Pink Saturday to all. These pink flowers from my wedding bouquet remind me of very good times :) They were lovely to begin with but looking back at them reminds me of all the beautiful moments that day too. I can't believe our anniversary is coming around again in less than three weeks!

Stop by How Sweet the Sound today to see more Pink!

Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday! I get a kick out of this guy :) I hope everyone has a fabulous pink weekend. make sure you stop by Beverly's to see lots more pink fabulosity!

Chinese Stars?

My husband asked last night when he found these on his desk if the baby and I are starting a street gang armed with Chinese Throwing Stars.

No. My infant son and I are not starting a street gang armed with Chinese Throwing Stars.

But good guess, Babe.

It's all part of a swap project I hope will turn out. I'll post the result (for good or ill) when I'm done!

Birthday Shopping

What do you get for the woman who has everything and likes nothing? If you said, "Jewelry...duh!", then you answered correctly, because, as all women know, this is a pretty good answer to any question. See the following:

• "What should I get my girlfriend for valentine's day?"
• "What can I do to quickly make myself feel more like a woman and less zombie/mommy?"
• "Wow, my sister is just the best in the world and really should know it. What can I get her to make sure she gets the idea?"
• "What is it about that little black dress?"
• "Gee, it's Thursday. I should surprise my wife. What with...?"
  

See the answer works for almost anything.

I just hope it works for my sister's birthday coming up. Aren't these lovely?

They're from Silpada, one of those direct sales companies. Which I usually don't dig too much, but they sell very high-quality jewelry. I hate buying random jewelry, only to find have to replace the findings myself because they're full of nickel. Silpada uses only sterling silver, so I can look through the catalog for what I like, instead of having to check the text all the time to see if the photos are even worth looking at.

Anyhoo, I ordered these earrings at a jewelry party in April as a gift for my sister's birthday this month. She's always liked turquoise and citrine so I figured these were a good fit. I only hope they aren't too "fancy" for her. She's pretty laid back so I hope the sparkly austrian crystals don't keep her from wearing them. Speaking of which, does anyone know of an etsy shop out there which sells great "laid back" silver jewelry? Suggest away, friends!

Name that Vegetable...

Hmmm...confused celery?

Nope. That's Rhubarb.

Ah yes, Rhubarb. That delectable, yet frustratingly ephemeral crop. That sour counterpoint to Summer's sweetest gems. That...

Sorry. I got carried away. I really like rhubarb. I'm okay now.

So have you used rhubarb before? Don't be intimidated; give it a try! Here's a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (the traditional/common use for rhubarb) to get you going:

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE
You can use fresh or frozen rhubarb for this recipe. The filling will be quite loose and liquidy when it comes out of the oven, but with thicken some as it cools. Enjoy hot, warm or cold with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

filling:
1 egg
1 C sugar
2 T all-purpose flour
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 lb rhubarb (about 2 - 2 1/2 cups)
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 unbaked pie crust

crumb topping:
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C cold butter
1/2 C quick-cooking or old fashioned rolled oats

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces, and halve the strawberries. In a large bowl, mix together first four ingredients together. Stir in rhubarb and strawberry pieces until well-coated. our into pie crust. Make topping: Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter with a knife or fork until mixture is crumbly. Distribute over top of filling. Bake for 45 minutes, reducing heat to 350 degrees after 10 minutes. Remove from oven (pie should be golden brown and filling bubbly), cool and enjoy!

Button Swap

I haven't had a chance to blog about the swaps I've been involved in until now but I'm gonna try to do double time to catch up and make up for not posting in almost a month!

These are the buttons I made to send to Christy of Visualized by Christy. She hosted a button swap, but I turned out to be the only one to sign up. It's a shame too because it was a really simple, stress free and super-fun swap! I also sent these coasters that I made out of the same great thrifted fabric:As well as these charm squares:

And here is what I received from Christy:
These fabulous animal themed charm squares; I love the peppermint pink
and those bunnies with the giant eyes are adorable...


And Christie made magnets using these same fabrics as well as 4 buttons using the blue bunnies. Isn't her packaging is really nice too?

I can't wait to use all of these! Thanks for hosting and for being a great swap partner, Christie!

Spring Children's Book Parade: The Tale of Despereaux

This book has it all: princesses, a daring rescue, chivalry, a happy ending, rats...wait a minute...rats?...Yes. Rats.

Trust me, The Tale of Despereaux (by Kate DiCamillo) is a great book, all about Despereaux the mouse, an unlikely hero.

This is the book my husband read to me on our Honeymoon, so I know I have a somewhat biased opinion (he could have read me the phone book and it would now hold a special place in my heart). However, it truly is a wonderful book and the characters each have very special qualities; I like books with characters like that because you can stop when reading to a child and explain why each character has good and bad (or sometimes just bad) qualities and discuss what you admire or dislike about each one.

I highly recommend checking this book out of the library or, better yet, picking up a copy to add to your own library. I think once you read it yourself, you'll agree that it deserves a place on your shelf! And while you're at it, check into Kate DiCamillo' other great reads like Because of Winn-Dixie, and the Mercy Watson Series. Also, check out the Spring Children's Book Parade over at the 6 o'clock stitch so you can get more great children's book recommendations.

PS...I know an animated movie-version of The Tale of Despereaux just came out recently, but I haven't seen it yet. May I suggest that you read the book before watching the movie? Or at least that you not settle for only watching the film, but, rather, read the book as well? You won't regret it!

Pink Saturday

What a lovely book. I have so many memories of my mother reading Winnie-The-Pooh to the four of us. We would take our baths and put on jammies and then my mom would choose which bed we'd sit on for the reading. She usually read us at least one chapter when she was reading a book to us. I never realized what a feat that is until I began reading aloud to children - it really takes stamina to read aloud for that long and to read well at the same time.

My mother is a champion reader. She reads very expressively without being over-the-top and, even now, I would love to hear her read. She just has a knack for reading in such a way that you stop thinking about who is reading, or how words are said, or even what is being said, and are able to get lost in your imagination; almost the way it is when you read silently to yourself - you don't "hear" yourself, though you are reading the words. Rather you see it all in your minds eye. The way my mother reads allows her listeners to do that. I hope my children enjoy me reading to them as much as we enjoyed hearing my mom.

As I said this pink copy of Winnie-The-Pooh has a lot of great memories. This edition was printed in 1984, the year after I was born, and it's my pink happy thought for this week's Pink Saturday! For more Pink Saturday, visit our host, Beverly, at How Sweet The Sound.

Pink Saturday

These cards were given me for a birthday several years ago and I just love the picture! Isn't it dreamy? It really gives me the feeling of a good dream where everything is going right and I feel really girly; floating away into a pink sky!

Happy Pink Saturday everyone!

Spring Children's Book Parade: The Longitude Prize

Today's book post for the Spring Children's Book Parade (hosted by the six o'clock stitch) is The Longitude Prize by Joan Dash.

This wonderful, informative and exciting book details the life and work of John Harrison who spent himself in the creation of a way to measure longitude while traveling the seas. This plainly written story will have you on the edge of your seat and marveling at the scientific minds which competed for The Longitude Prize, a reward offered by act of Parliament for the discovery of a safe way to measure location when at sea. Though Harrison was not well-to-do, nor formally educated, and though at many times he was scoffed at, children and adult readers alike will find themselves rooting for this man who persevered and changed world travel through his inventions.

This is another one of those gems that comes along every once in awhile which is bound to become a classic! Dash's writing sets out the history of great scientific discovery in a way which gets right to the human element and which is easy to understand. (Another lovely book in this style is How We Found Out About Germs by Isaac Asimov, which is unfortunately out of print, but worth searching out). I highly recommend finding a copy of this book to read, particularly if you have children who show a bent toward the sciences. Happy Reading!

Note: I found out about this excellent book through the Bluedorns, a family in Illinois who also publish homeschooling materials and have a very helpful website, Trivium Pursuit. The Bluedorns have published a book called Hand That Rocks The Cradle. In Hand That Rocks The Cradle, the Bluedorn's son Nathaniel has compiled the pertinent information on over 400 of their family's favourite books from over 25 years of learning and reading aloud as a family.

Please stop by the the six o'clock stitch and check out all the comments on the Spring Children's Book Parade to find out what books are beloved by other readers - maybe you'll find yourself a new family favourite!

Alexander Henry Fabric Giveaway

See Mommy Sew is having a giveaway today (open until Sunday) of some lovely Alexander Henry Fabric as part of the May Giveaway Day hosted by Sew Mama Sew. See Mommy Sew is a great site: she has a tutorial for a Maternity Skirt that I can't wait to try.

So head over to enter the drawing for the fabric, check out the awesome website, and then make sure to check out the list at Sew Mama Sew for all the other amazing Giveaways on the blogosphere today!