Day 52: Terrycloth Toothbrush Travel Accessory

Watch out world...I have started sewing!!!  I was blessed enough to have a mom who is a wonderful with a sewing machine...me on the other hand can only sew straight lines.  I want to get out of "sewing" comfort zone & be able to sew more advanced projects.  When looking for a starter project I thought this would be perfect since it is mostly straight lines.

This project is a washcloth that you can carry you family toothbrushes and toothpaste in my you travel.  If you are like me I usually end up throwing them into a Ziploc bag and by the end of the trip the baggie is all wet and gross.  This is a perfect solution...use it while you are traveling and when you get home throw it in the washing machine and its clean for the next trip.

I found this on pinterest, but it wasn't a "project" description but a shop on etsy...I hate when that happens.  I checked out the etsy site and was able to figure it out using a little math and some trail and error.  To check out the etsy site go to www.etsy.com/shop/perfectdarlings

Materials:
Wash clothes (I got mine at Walmart for $1.97)
Ribbon (I used some that I had on hand)
Sewing machine
Thread (any color you choose)

Step 1:  Fold one side of the washcloth 4 inches up.  Pin on the sides (sorry...I only had safety pins.) 

Step 2:  Pin across the top of the opening every 3 inches to make the pockets.  (I used a white pencil to make the 3 inch sections next to the pin.)

Step 3:  On one of the end seams, insert your ribbon and secure it in place with a pin.

Step 4:  Sew all 4 seams, make sure to secure the at the beginning and end of each seam.  (I sewed a few stitches in and then reserved the same amount than sewed the seam down to the end and repeated the same process.)

Step 5:  On the final seam sew the ribbon into place.  Using the same process as the other 3 seams.

Step 6:  Add some tooth brushes and toothpaste, throw into your bag and travel a way!!

Sorry if these directions are a little crude...I am a beginner to the sewing thing and trying to explain it in writing if harder than I thought!!  I will try to update the direction to make them a little clearer.

I made 6 total...I think these will be great little add on gifts.  I already know one is going to my sister in-law in Alaska and one to a FB friend who really encouraged me to start this blog!!

Hopefully this post has maybe inspired you go dust off that sewing machine like I did and try something new!!  Let me know what you think...and if you have any tips or tricks to add leave me a comment.

Day 51: Piggies in a biscuit blanket

I came home from work today I discovered that Mr. J was sick!!  Since it was just me and Little T, I needed a quick and easy, kid-friendly item to make for dinner and Little T REALLY wanted to help make something.  I am in need of a trip to the grocery store, so the cupboards are a little bare and instead of finding my recipe than making it, I went to the fridge to see what I had to work with.  I found cheese, little smokies and biscuits.  Since hot dogs and cheese are in Little T's top 5 favorite things, I decided to make pigs in a blanket.  The recipes I found all called for crescent rolls but crescent roll...biscuit...close enough.  A blanket is a blanket...right?!?  So we made piggies in a biscuit blanket....

Ingredients:
1 tub of crescent rolls (or biscuits)
Little Smokies
Sliced Cheese


Step 1:  Preheat your oven to the temperature that is says on your package of "blanket" material.  The biscuits needed to be cooked at 450 degrees.

Step 2:  Open the tub of biscuits/crescents and separate them.  With the biscuits, it worked best to cut them in half.  (That make it a little easy for Little T to help.)  Spread about each half to make a little strip.

Step 3:  In the middle of each strip add a little smokies and a chunks of cheese.  Wrap each end of the strip to the middle, over lapping in the center.  Place on cookie sheet.

Step 4:  Bake for the amount of time on the package.  (The biscuits bake for 8-10 minutes)

This was a great dinner to let Little T help with...besides cutting the biscuits in half there was no knives involved.  I just let Little T rip the cheese apart. 

I will give this recipe a 4...I think I like them with the biscuits better!!  The biscuit was crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  Plus add a little smokie and some cheese and how could you not like it!!

Little T REALLY he enjoyed making and eating them!!  I think he had 6!!

Day 50: Mac and Cheese

Today is the day to try this cream of something soup mix out!!!  Hopefully I've had you on pins and needles since yesterday ;)  Its moment of truth time.  Little T loves...I mean LOVES mac and cheese.  He would eat it everyday for every meal if we would let him.

I found this recipe on the same blog as the dry mix was.  Its pretty easy to make and I had everything on hand that I needed.

Ingredients:

Cooked pasta

Cream of something soup, thickened

Cheddar cheese, grated

Chicken, shredded

Bacon, cooked and diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1:  Cook pasta and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2:  Mix together and pour into a 13x9 baking dish.  Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes and until bubbling.  I added panko breadcrumbs to mine.

With this recipe you can add anything to it...different meats...vegetables pretty much anything you want.

I would rate this a 3...it was easy and showcased the cream of something soup really well.  I would have actually liked a little more sauce.  I would double the cream of something mix and add extra cheese!!  The cheesier the better.  But this is a simple go to recipe.  And yes the pepper was way TOO peppery!!  Best of luck!

Day 49: Cream of Something Soup Mix

Most people think that the 3 yr old in my house would be the picky eater...guess again it is Mr J!!  He doesn't like cream of celery, mushrooms, onions, green peppers...all the basics of most meals!!  So at my house it is difficult to make recipes that call for cream of (fill in the blank) soup.  So when I found this recipe on Pinterest I was super duper excited!!  All the cream of ____ soup issues were no more!!!  Plus it doesn't have all the "extra" chemical additives in it.

The original recipe can be found at 1orangegiraffe.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

1 c non-fat dried milk

3/4 c cornstarch

1/4 c bouillon (if you have cubes you have to smash them)

 *Note:  You can use whatever kind you like (vegetable, beef, chicken)

4 Tbsp freeze dried onion

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp pepper

Step 1:  Mix all the ingredients together and store in a air tight container.

Step 2:  To make: add 1/3 c dry mix with 1 1/4 c water.  Cook until thick, whisk often.

I am rating this one a 3 for a few reasons #1 I am not a huge pepper fan...and 1 tsp of pepper was A LOT!!  All I could taste was pepper.  #2 I used chicken bouillon and with basil and thyme (which are used a lot with chicken) I don't know how it will work out for a recipe with beef.  I am going to try and fix it so its not so peppery.

As luck would have it right after I made this recipe, I found another recipe that didn' have the basil and thyme in it...bummer.  I will out that recipe below so you can decide which one you would like to try.

Tomorrow I will be using this in a recipe...we'll see how it works...fingers crossed.

This recipe can be found at onegoodthingbyjillee.com

Alternative recipe:

2 cups powdered milk

3/4 c cornstarch

1/4 c instant chicken bouillon (or other of your choice)

2 Tbsp dried onion flakes

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/3 cup of mix to 1 1/4 c water.  Whisk until blended, cook and stir on stove top until thickened.

Day 48: Classic Swedish Meatballs

Beside a theme of quick and easy, I am also on a little of a comfort food kick.  It must be the winter weather getting to me.  Few things can be more comforting than meatballs, mash potatoes and gravy?!?  I love me some creamy mashed potatoes....yummo!!

The original recipe can be found at savoringthemthyme.com

Ingredients:

Meatballs

3 slices bread

1/2 c milk

1/2 small onion, minced

2 gloves of garlic, minced

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/4 lbs ground pork

3/4 lb ground beef

2 large eggs

a handful of parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Gravy

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 c unbleached flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 c chicken broth

1/2 c half and half

Step 1:  Break bread slices into small piece and out in a medium bowl.  Pour milk over bread and toss with your hands to moisten evenly.Set aside.

Step 2:  In a skillet over medium heat, cook onion in 1 Tbsp butter with 1/2 tsp salt until translucent.  Toss in the garlic.  Remove from heat.

Step 3:  Drain excess milk from bread, squeeze lightly.  Add to the bowl, use either a stand mixer of hand help mixer, (I used my hands.)  Add onion and garlic mixture, pork, eggs, parsley, and remaining 1 tsp salt and pepper, beat until smooth.  When the mixture is smooth, break ground beef into very small pieces and stir until evenly mixed.

Step 4:  Melt 2 Tbsp butter into a skillet over medium heat.  Roll the meat mixture into balls with you hands.  (I use a ice cream scoop to make sure my balls are similar in size.)  Add meatballs to the pan and cook, you might have to do this is batches.  Turn frequently, until brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes.  When the first batch is done, put in a deep dish and cover with foil.  Transfer all the meatballs to the deep dish while you make the gravy.

Step 5:  Increase the heat on the pan to medium high.  If your pan has some drippings, add 2 Tbsp of butter; if not use 3.  Add flour and salt and whisk; the mixture will be crumbly.  Add broth a little at a time, whisking constantly until smooth.  After all the broth is added and the gravy is smooth, add half and half and stir well.  Lower heat to low, add meatballs back to the pan and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.  Then they are ready to eat!!

I made mashed potatoes to go with the meatballs...yummy!!!  They were AMAZING!!!

I am rating this recipe a 4...they are delicious...not quite as good as my mom's but a close second.  For myself, I actually cooked my meatballs in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes...that way while they cooked I could get the gravy and potatoes going.  I also used the same skillet for the onion/garlic mixture and the gravy.  That way I didn't have to dirty more dishes they i needed to....the dishwasher aka Mr J appreciates that.  As you can see I really do love meatballs!!

Day 47: Almond Joy Macaroons

Another one of my top 5 favorite things in the food world is Almond Joys!!  Chocolate, coconut and almonds....its pure "joy" in one bite.  I found this easy recipe and thought it would be a piece of cake for these new baker.  4-6 ingredients depending of you feel like a nut or not.

Original recipe can be found at justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com

Ingredients:

1 14oz bag of flaked coconut

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp Almond extract

2 tsp Vanilla extract

Optional:  chocolate candy bar and almonds

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Step 2:  In a large bowl mix all ingredients together. 

*Note:  There are a few different pans that you can use to bake these on.  The original recipe used a square baking pan, put I didn't have one, so I used a mini muffin pan.  You could also leave them as traditional round macaroons.

Step 3:  Using an spoon, cookie scoop or a melon baller (like I did), scoop the mix on to the pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Immediately remove cookies from sheets.

Optional:

*Add almonds to the macaroons before baking.

* Dip or drizzle melted with chocolate.  To melt chocolate, cut bar into smaller pieces and melt in 25 second intervals in the microwave.

I am rating this one a 4...quick and easy to make and delicious!!  The only thing I can say about this recipe...DO NOT put the cookies on wax paper...unless you like a little wax paper with your cookie?!?  I would recommend using a cooling rack instead.  Give these a try...bake a way my friends.

Day 46: Fry bread tacos

For 25 of my 32 years I spend a weekend every August at We Fest, a huge country music festival in my hometown.  It is something that we always did together as a family.  They always have those yummy treats that you get at most county fairs, and each day we would get one of those treats.  One of my personal favorites...one I HAD to have every year is something that us Northerners call an Uffta taco...also know as a fry bread taco.  To me its summer on a plate...crunchy & soft fry bread, topped with yummy taco meat, crisp lettuce, juice tomatoes, shredded cheese & cool sour cream.  Oh my I am starting to get hungry!

The original recipe can be found at whatscookingamerica.net

Ingredients:
1 c unbleached flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp powdered milk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c water
Vegetable oil for frying
Extra flower to flour your hands

Step 1:  Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk and baking soda into a large bowl.  Pour water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with until it starts to form one big clump.

Step 2:  Flour your hands well.  Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball.  You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it.  Kneading it will make for a heavy fry bread when cooked.  The inside of the dough ball should be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured. 

Step 3:  Cut the dough into four pieces (I cut mine into 6 so Little T could help).  Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat and form a disk of about 5-7 inches in diameter.

Step 4:  In a deep heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees.  You can check if your oil in hot enough by either dropping a small piece of dough in the oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles.  Your oil should be about 1 inch deep.

Step 5:  Take the formed dough and gently place it in the oil, be careful not to splatter the hot oil.  Press down on top of the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil.  Fry until golden brown and than flip to fry the other side.  Each side will take approximately 3-4 minutes.  Place the cooked fry bread on a paper towel to absorb oil.  (You can place the fry bread into a warm oven set to 200 degrees.  They can also be refrigerated and reheated in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes before serving.

To complete my Uffta taco I browned some hamburger with a little chopped onion.  After the meat was completely browned, I added 2 Tbsp of my DYI taco seasoning with a little water, cooked for about 5 minutes.  I topped the fry bread with taco meat, lettuce, cheese and sour cream. 

I am rating this recipe a 4...it was a little more difficult that what I usually cook...but I HAD to try it.  Just like with my baking, I think as I keep "practicing" my baking style it will get better :)

On a side note the taco meat was awesome!!!  I loved the DIY mix!!  These tacos were a big hit with Little T...he really enjoyed helping stretch the dough out.  He might turn out to be a better baker than me.