Twisted Sister

I love when I get custom orders for a project, and I was super flattered by a request from a lifestyle blogger I love to read, Rachel, of From Faye. I was hooked on her blog from the moment I read her post about getting comfortable with liking being a 'homemaker' while she was still blogging under the name Frugal Faye.

She sent me a photo of a cardigan she loved and wanted two of them to create a capsule wardrobe for her girls. I found the pattern Rajani Cardigan by Kasia Lubinska and altered it to fit her needs. Knit from washable and soft CotLin by Knit Picks and embellished with wooden buttons bearing my logo that I had made a couple years ago, these simple creamy cardigans have a cable and bobble placket that makes them just a touch more special than your average sweater.

These were a touch more tedious than I anticipated only because I took for granted how accustomed I've become to (and love) knitting sweaters in the round, which doesn't translate to a cardigan, unless you steek it and I'm too chicken. So, a lot of purling, and I've become a princess.

Here they are; two super cute cabled cardis. (Fingers crossed the fit, and are beloved by the recipient!)

100 Meals of Real Food

One hundred days, three meals a day (plus snacks), that's a whole lotta planning. I decided instead I'd try for 100 days of at least one meal a day that consisted only of 'real food'. Tonight, it was dinner. Actually, lunch was as well because I ate dinner leftovers, so I'll rewind to last night. First day of school meant falling back into schedules and routine hence; Taco Tuesday.

H 'invented' a taco soup that is dead simple, but surprisingly good. Brown two pounds ground beef* (or turkey or chicken or whatever protein you want); add taco seasoning (make your own with this quick recipe that you don't have to mix up in advance), a quart of good beef stock, and simmer for about 15 minutes to bring it all up to temperature and at the last minute throw in some corn (I cut the kernels off the cobs of two leftover from the previous night's grill-out). If the corn is frozen, obviously do this more than a minute from the end so it's not still frozen. My kids like this as is with some grated cheese on it (which is where H's rendition ends), but I garnish mine and J's with sliced avocado, cilantro, a little cheese and (if I have the foresight) the chili-lime crunchies from this Iowa Girl Eat's burger recipe. If you don't include the corn crunchies, as I did not last night, it's still a good and really filling soup that takes no time and the whole family likes it.

As I was making my meal plan for the week on Sunday night, I asked J if he had any requests for main dishes or sides and he mentioned a bread salad I'd made earlier in the summer. While waiting for my car to get washed I'd seen it in O magazine and snapped a photo of the recipe, made it that night and we loved it, but just kind of forgot about it after that.

September means an overwhelming abundance of garden tomatoes and basil, so this was the perfect suggestion. Instead of a sourdough or white baguette I used a loaf of whole wheat bread, but otherwise the recipe is perfect as is. In order to make it a full meal for my family I heated a package of Aidell's chicken and apple sausages  (thank you Costco for carrying these in bulk!). My kids don't love the salad, but they still ate bites of it, but they do really, really love the sausage plus a straight up piece of the bread. J and I? Love the salad. With one of the sausages it's a full meal without feeling heavy. Let me know if you give it a try!

Warm Bread Salad with Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed but kept whole
• 4 cups torn baguette pieces
• 1 cup 1/2"-diced red onion
• 4 cups 1/2"-diced tomatoes, divided
• 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed
• 1 Tbsp. capers
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper

Directions

Total time: 30 minutes 

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add baguette pieces and sauté until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low, add red onion, and sauté 1 minute, then add 2 cups tomatoes. Add vinegar and remove from heat. Add basil, capers, and remaining tomatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with basil leaves and serve immediately. 

Adapted from I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes 

What changes (if any) are you making to inject a little change into your ho-hum menus? What do you have planned for this week?

*I'm so glad we invested in the half of a cow from my cousin and his wife this Spring. While our freezer was almost overwhelmingly full of beef at first, it's gotten to a manageable level after a summer of grilling burgers and steaks and I have room to start making some freezer meals again. If you're interested in purchasing bulk meat, one thing to consider is the huge savings you'll get on the premium cuts: a big 100% grass-fed, organic Prime Rib for under $4 a pound? Yes, please!

Oh Captain, My Captain

The perfect pool-side project to while away the swim lesson hours.

I had so much fun creating a nursery for Jack, that I couldn't just let the new babe slide into the room I'd created for him (which they'll be sharing) that would be way to efficient and practical. Since it's the first girl, I wanted it to inject some femininity, while still being conscious of the fact that it was a boy/girl shared room.

I love the combination of navy and coral and it's a color scheme that seems to be in vogue right now because Pinterest is full of ideas. Since I wanted it to have some nautical undertones, I've found several fun things to add to the gallery wall that's already there for Jack's room, I'll be repainting his 'J' navy and ditching the aqua and yellow that are currently in the room.

 I finally properly framed the ABC sampler that I embroidered when I was pregnant with Jack, so it'll go up on the wall as well after I paint the frame with my favorite satin spray paint; Rustoleum's Heirloom White.

I had a lot of fun stitching that up, so I searched on etsy for other embroidery patterns and found several that I'll be adding to the wall. Some simple, some with a ton of detail, but still easy for a beginner, like this one from Cozy Blue. At just around four inches in diameter, I stitched on this for about a week in my down time and it was done.

In order to get the most detail possible in the transfer from PDF to fabric, I invested in Sulky's Sticky Fabri-Solvy stabilizer that comes on printable 8.5x11 sheets. After running it through your home printer, you just peel off the backing and stick it on your fabric. I am terrible at applying any of those static cling stickers to phone fronts and I had no problem getting this onto my fabric wrinkle-free.  After you're done stitching, you just peel up the corners and snip off the excess and then soak your whole piece and the extra dissolves. It's not inexpensive, but it was worth it for the amount of detail you get. I would use for sure if I do the alphabet sampler again.

You can see the bumpy texture of the stabilizer. I love how crisply all of the detail prints onto it.

Now to decide between a traditional frame and an embroidery hoop.

Anyhow, this is just a sneak peek of a few of the projects going into the new nursery. I'm forcing myself to get our bonus room in order first because it will be a painful project as it serves the triple duty of office, guest and craft room and none of them very well right now, then I can move onto the fun of the nursery, so stay tuned!

Meal Plan Monday; 2-in-1

I decided to start doing two weeks of meal planning at a time. The week goes so quickly and, before I know it, I'm staring down Sunday with a dwindling produce selection and not a lot of inspiration. The meals for the following week that can be made ahead and frozen will be, and grocery shopping will be more streamlined. With a five person family, I still try to stay under $800 a month in groceries, and most of the time I'm able to, with some flex for the months of heavy meat purchases. Once I made the commitment to buy only organic and/or free-range meat, I also had to concede that we'd have less meals that included meat so I've been delving into my queue of vegetarian meals. A lot of people shy away from vegetarian meals because they think they'll lack flavor or substance, but that's just not true, it's all in the seasoning and the selection of produce and protein.

I've been pretty salad-heavy in my lunches lately, but will be trying these Eggplant Pizzas from Julia Child as a way to change things up. There are so many good, healthy and hearty options, there's no reason to be left eating your kids' cast-off crusts, or a crappy protein bar on the run. It takes a little more planning and prep time, but once you get in the habit it just becomes part of your day.

For the week of February 17th:

Monday: Quinoa Burgers, using the shredded zucchini in the recipe instead of carrots

Tuesday: Make-Your-Own Taco Bar

Wednesday: This Chili (yes, again-It's good! Making multiple batches by prepping the meat and then dividing into gallon sized bags, ready to thaw and cook next time) and Skillet Cornbread

Thursday: Meaty Lasagna, Salad and Bread (yet another that I'll make multiple of-in 8x8 pans-and freeze)

Friday: Pizza Playdate Dinner-For all the mamas whose husbands work late or travel, it's one night a month that we don't have to worry about dinner alone.

Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner; WW Waffles with Berry sauce and bacon. I love Marc Bittman's Quick and Easy waffles-I've used How To Cook Everything to death!)

Sunday: Minestrone (I make this a quad batch by browning enough meat for four batches and then continuing on with only one quarter of the meat for one batch and portioning the others into gallon-sized freezer bags with the remaining ingredients per the freezer instructions), Green Salad and Artisan Bread

For the week of February 24th:

Monday:  Quinoa and Spinach patties with eggs

Tuesday: Fish Tacos with Simple Slaw (cabbage, sour cream or greek yogurt, lime juice, salt and cilantro)

Wednesday: Brisket with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Parmesan Risotto

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Mom's gone-Boys rule (I'll be having a delicious kid-free dinner in Portland with my bestie to ring in another year for her)

Saturday: Ditto (more kid-free loveliness, including some pampering with girlfriends to celebrate babies and birthdays)

Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner; Protein Banana Pancakes and Bacon

Of All the Fish in the Sea...

I love Valentine's Day, but this year, I was determined to do it on the cheap. Because who doesn't love a cheap date?! Not only did I want to find something that was inexpensive, but after last year's cookie bouquet debacle, I was also looking for something dead simple. Without thinking about the date on the calendar, I planned a trip to visit a girlfriend, putting me home late the night before the day of love and actually being out town during Charlie's party, for which I volunteered to make cupcakes. Naturally. So I needed to have everything done and ready for the kids to assemble while I was gone; I filled out Charlie's for him, but Henry did all of his own.

For the kids' class exchange a free printable, lollipop bags from my party supplies and a few bags of Swedish fish created a cute valentine with a small amount of candy. Goldfish crackers, which we already own, could have been used, but I had zero faith that a bunch of tiny bags of goldfish crackers would get to school un-crushed, so sugary red dye number whatever for the win!

A few of the teachers got the same valentine as the kids, but for the classroom teachers and the school secretaries, I found this free printable which I printed onto pink cardstock from my paper stash and fastened onto re-usable cups you can buy at Starbucks for $1 each. I was at Safeway and planned to buy the reusable cups you see on display, but at $6 each, it didn't really fit into my V-day on the cheap scheme. I remembered the cup I'd purchased for my own use the month before, and snapped up several of them. I had planned to get Starbucks giftcards to go with each one, but then saw the new latte versions of Via. I picked up a couple of four-pack boxes, but then saw the single serve 'try before you stock up' samples that were $1 each. Hmm..same product size and almost half the price. Why yes, yes I did clear them out. 1-2 in each cup along with brown paper lunch bags that I cut into strips and crinkled, reminiscent of cafe au lait (and also free). I added in peppermint kisses because I still had an unopened bag of them that I didn't use for midnight kisses on New Year's. Valentines day at under $25 out of pocket  for two kids; teacher gifts and classroom exchange combined, not too shabby!