My Life in France

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to posting this book review. I really enjoyed getting to know the life of Julia Child. It wasn't quite a page turner, but it was fun and interesting. It made my mouth water and inspired me to try some French Cuisine (although she did favor some dishes that I would never ever consider putting in my mouth). I also thought it was so wonderful that she found her passion and talent for cooking later in life. It gave me realize that learning should never have to stop. 

I joined my sister's book club and My Life in France was the book they read for November. I'm really looking forward to next year's reads, they should be good! Stay tuned for reviews...

Jammies for Eden

These are so easy and cute...I think I better make her a few more pairs.

A Quilt for Brian

Brian is the king of collecting free t-shirts. So, I thought this quilt would be a good idea for preserving them (and creating some space in his drawers). It still needs to be tied, but I love how it turned out!

Thankful Blocks

One 2x4, a handy grandpa to cut it into blocks, some crafters paint and letters printed, cut out with an exacto knife and used as stencils. Pretty easy and I love how they turned out!

A Nursing Cover

This one is for my sister in law expecting her first in a few weeks. I used mine with Eden for the first six or seven months and it was great! So nice when you're out in public. There are TONS of tutorials out there, but I usually do my own thing. I hope she likes it.

A Few of My Latest Projects...

I'm not sure if anyone besides family even looks at my blog, but I thought I would document a few things I've been up to lately. Most importantly so I can remember that I have actually been productive in my spare time! :)

A little skirt...

(Plus an almost identical skirt we passed onto our two year old cousin because it was too small for my girl...mind you she is only one)

An ugly thrifted frame I spray painted, took out the glass and replaced it with a modge-podged piece of magnet board. It looks so cute in the baby's room.

Also a few more of these lovely ladies...

This time for friend's one year birthdays

A bunch of bow ties for my nephews! I forgot to get pictures though! I'm so sad, hopefully I'll get some from their recipients. For now you'll just have to imagine the cuteness. This was my inspiration...

Go HERE for the know how.

I also whipped up a cute little owl for another one year birthday and forgot to get a picture before I wrapped it up and gave it away. Again use your imagination.

This is what I used as a pattern...

(Brian thought the legs were a bit too much, but I thought they were cute!)

Check out Pottery Barn Kids for a closer look.

And...this stuff has been my obsession lately...

I used it to applique cute shapes and patterns to little onesies for a baby shower (which went with a nursing cover), to create a birthday shirt (with a number one) for a birthday girl, to make some cute shirts for Eden, and even a couple shirts for me! Love it!

A Few Book Reviews

It's been a while, we've been busy moving and vacationing! I have managed to finish a few books...

My mom lent me this one and I tried to start it soon after I had my baby, but it's a pretty heart wrenching book and I couldn't handle it in my fragile "baby blues" state. It sat on my shelf for several months until I finally picked it up again a few weeks ago and read it. Wow! It is a very sad account of a middle class Cambodian family and their terrifying journey through the Khmer Rouge Regime in the 1970s. Although they endured losing their home, torture, starvation, and death, I appreciated the book because it really made me think about the value of life and what is truly important. It also brought me back to the time we spent in Cambodia a few summers ago. I stood in many of the same places that Loung Ung speaks about in her book such as the Killing Fields and Angkor Wat. I really wish we could go back as I have developed an even greater appreciation for the Cambodian people after reading First They Killed My Father.

I finished the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy in three days! Although I LOVE the Hunger Games, I have to admit that Mockingjay was my least favorite of the series. It did not disappoint in the ways of action and drama, but I felt the end was a bit anti-climatic. There were a few character relationships that I wasn't pleased with as well. Nonetheless, it was entertaining and I would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking a good action!

Some Veg Ideas

We've been trying to do the vegetarian thing for a while now. We're not 100% there, but we're close. I make mostly vegetarian meals at home, but we'll have meat if we're out and it's being served. What i've found is that it is kind of hard cooking vegetarian, it requires some creativity. Just in case any of you are struggling out there for ideas or would like an excuse to cut down on the meat...here are a few of our staple vegetarian recipes:

CALZONES (from Emily Hill)

Dough:

1 c. warm water

1 T. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 T. oil

2 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water (make sure water is warm enough to activate yeast). Add sugar, salt, and oil. Slowly stir in flour, then knead until is it the right consistency. Cover in bowl in and let rise for 20 minutes. Divide into four pieces for calzones. Roll into round and add any pizza ingredients you desire. I like to switch up traditional pizza ingredients and add things like chopped spinach, cottage cheese, broccoli, red and green bell peppers, etc. The more veggies, the better! Fold the dough in half and press sides together.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 455 degrees.

**For a simple, but yummy pizza recipe use pitas. Add the ingredients on top of the pita and broil in the oven for 5-8 minutes. So easy and yummy!

Vegetarian Chili (from Amanda Shirley)

This is SO good and healthy!

2 T oil

1 clove minced garlic

1 bell pepper, color of your choice

1 stalk of celery chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 lrg. carrot shredded

1 med zucchini shredded

1 18oz can of tomatoes with juice

2 15oz cans kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2t pepper

1 tsp. italian seasoning

Heat oil in plan, add garlic and bell peppers. Saute a few minutes. Add celery and onion. [Suggestion: a food processor comes in very handy for the shredding if you have one]. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30-40 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro and cheese.

Black Bean Burgers (found on Allrecipes.com)

*These are SO yummy with sweet potato fries!

1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 egg

1 TB chili power

1 TB. cumin

1/2 c. bread crumbs (packed tight)

Mush black beans with a fork or potato masher. Combine bell, onion and garlic in a food processor (or chop very fine). Drain excess liquid, then add mixture to black beans. Stir in egg, chili powder, and cumin. Add in bread crumbs.

*I've found the key to successful black bean burgers is to drain as much of the excess liquid as possible.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on each side or cook directly on the stove top. You'll need to be gentle, they are not as firm as regular hamburgers.

Add regular hamburger-type condiments like lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc.

Zucchini Alfredo (Found on Allrecipes.com)

1 (12 oz) package linguine

3 TB oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 C. shredded zucchini

1/2 C. milk

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil

salt/pepper (to taste)

Cook linguine according to package directions. Heat oil in pan, add garlic, then add zucchini and saute for 3-4 minutes. Pour in milk, then stir in cream cheese and basil. Cook on low for 5-8 minutes. Pour over linguine and stir until it evenly coats the noodles. Add desires amount of salt and pepper.

Hearty Black Bean Soup (from Emily Hill)

1 cup tomato salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. lime juice
2 T. fresh chopped cilantro

Heat salsa in saucepan to heat through. Stir in beans and broth. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Let soup cool slightly and ladle half of it into a blender. Puree it. Return to pot, stir in lime juice and chopped cilantro and heat through. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream.

Other Ideas:

• Stir Fry (we do this at least once a week and I like to add Tofu when I can. It's great for using up those veggies that you NEED to use before they go bad)
• Nachos (again we do this at least once a week and we top on all the veggies we can think of: tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, peppers, etc. plus black beans)
• Omelets (so yummy with peppers and tomatoes)
• Shakes (I've been making these for Eden. I add a scoop of plain whole milk yogurt, frozen strawberries, half a fresh banana and a good slice of tofu or a hand full of spinach leaves...great way to sneak things in she otherwise wouldn't eat)

allrecipes.com has a great collection of vegetarian recipes. Go here to see. I've made some great tofu parmigiana, spinach enchiladas and stuffed shells from this collection.

Organization Tip

Just wanted to show how I organize Eden's bow's [I've made most of these, by the way :]. If anyone is interested in learning how to make these little accessories, let me know!

A Dolly

At Baby Time [at the library] a few weeks ago Eden stole the teacher's doll and wouldn't give it back the entire time. She dragged it around with her for 45 minutes. When we left and I pried it from her fingers she cried and cried. SO, I decided it was time to get Eden a doll. I didn't want to spend very much money, so I decided to make one. I dug through my scrap bin and used a tutorial from Martha Stewart [Black Apple Dolls]. I made this same type of doll for my nieces a few years ago for Christmas and they are super easy.

Here she is...

She's far from perfect. Her head's a bit misshapen and her arms are crooked, but hey...her new owner is only 10 months old!

Another Apron

This one is for my Aunt as sort of thank you/repayment for letting us stay with her family over the fourth of July weekend. I hope she likes it!

My favorite part is the fabric flowers...

The Good Earth

I read The Good Earth in High School, but I didn't remember it very well and was looking to read a good classic. Brian read it a few months ago so he recommended it and I was completely captivated from page one. Pearl S. Buck does an amazing job depicting Chinese culture [a culture we got a small glimpse of when we visited China]. Even though many of the events in the book are sad and frustrating, it caused me to reflect upon my own life and think about the qualities I should appreciate in my husband, how I want to raise my children, and the things I should value in life...things I think a good book should do! I definitely recommend it!

Superman Cape

I made this cape for Brian's boss as kind of a gag-gift. It was pretty fun and easy and I got the idea here, adapting it for a big boy of course!

I've had a hard time finding a good book lately. In fact, I started three books and had to put them down because they were so bad! Two of them are even on the NY Times best seller list, so I was pretty disapointed. I was telling a friend about my bad book luck and she recommended and loaned me The Glass Castle. It is a memoir of Jeannette Walls' childhood growing up in a dysfunctional and extremely unique family. They are constantly on the move and her dad is an alcoholic. Her experiences are shocking, moving, and humbling. It kind of reminded me of a more modern version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I gave Brian a play-by-play of the book as I read it and he was shocked as well!

Any good book recommendations? I need to pick a book for book club next month!

Stroller Sun Shade

We just got a new little umbrella stroller and are loving it, but what I don't love is that the shade does practically nothing to keep the sun out of my girl's eyes. I've been draping a blanket from the shade to keep out the harsh sun, but it lies right in E's face and she likes to pull on it. SO, I decided to make a more reliable extended sun shade for her.

It's about a 1/2 yard's worth of fabric with some boning (what is used in nursing covers) in the middle to help it stick out away from her face. It has ties on the sides and velcro on the top to keep it in place.

And the ruffle looks so cute when it's pulled up.

I also made some little ribbon ties to hold Eden's toys since one of her new favorite games is throw the toy on the ground and watch Mom pick it up!

Easy Peezy Play-dough

I've been babysitting my cute little three-year-old neighbor lately and have been trying to think of creative things to do with him (since all we have are baby toys). I made play-dough yesterday for him and he LOVED it! We made worms and monsters for at least 45 minutes, it was great! I know there are lots of recipes out there, but this one is really easy and no cooking involved!

Play-dough

1 C. Flour

1/2 C. Salt

1/2 C. Water

Combine ingredients, divide into four pieces, add 3-4 drops of food coloring and mix in well. Add more water if it's too dry, add more flour if it's sticky.

A Skirt for Cia

I made this skirt for my niece Lucia this past week while I was hanging out in California. Her birthday is coming up and she is going to be SIX! I hope she gets some good use out of it!

Make one yourself by following directions here.

Portable High Chair

I got the idea to make a portable high chair on this cool blog. Really easy and a fairly simple concept, but it totally works! Great if you're out somewhere without a high chair or if the high chair is totally nasty!

Tutu

When I was at the fabric store the other day, the lady at the cutting counter insisted that I buy some tulle because, "every little girl needs a tutu." Since it was on sale, I folded. They are so easy! I followed directions here, but there are countless places to find directions and tutorials. Eden wasn't the biggest fan and it didn't last long, but she sure looked cute in it!

A few book reviews...

I had a friend recommend and pass along this book. It is historical fiction and follows the story of four sisters living in the Dominican Republic, fighting a difficult era of dictatorship. Three of the sisters end up getting killed in the end (I tell you this because it is mentioned from the beginning of the book...not trying to spoil it), and the story outlines their lives and their road to becoming national heros. I thought it was a pretty good read and recommend it.

We read this book for Book Club this month and I thought it was a fun, quick read. It is about Lara, a girl in her late twenties who's world changes when her great aunt passes away. Not because she knew and loved her aunt (actually the opposite), but because the spirit of her great aunt, Sadie has some unresolved business and relies on Lara, the only one who can see Sadie, to help her. I loved the 1920's aspects and the quirky twists and turns. The author wrote Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was made into a movie. I could see a movie being modeled after Twenties Girl as well!

Warning: the book does include quite a few explitives. Boo!

An Apron for Mom

I had some fabric I bought a while back (the blue flowery print) and was trying to figure out what to make with, so I did a little brainstorming and dug through my fabric bin (and found some leftover baby bib material, lace-like material I used for a table cloth, and some fabric I bought in India) and this is what I came up with...an apron for my mom for mother's day. I used another apron we already had to sketch out the measurements. Definitely far from perfect (especially for my mom, she is an amazing seamstress), but it was fun to make!

She likes it and it fits her well! Yay!

*Sorry the pictures aren't the best. I was in a hurry to get it off in the mail and my little model wasn't quite big enough for this one.