Fall crafts

Is Sept 1st too early for fall crafts? Because even though it is October, I technically made these and set them out on September 1st. Hey, if the stores are going to start putting out pumpkins then I think it's safe to start fall celebrations.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! And since I never need an excuse to put up decorations, I thought I would share some of my cheap Dollar Store displays.

This one is the layered vase that I have on my porch. I used layers of rice and red beans and topped with blue glass pebbles. I realize now though, there will be no disassembling to use next year (how would I separate rice and beans? What was I thinking?)

This one I made for $3. The jars were at the Dollar Store, I should have gotten more of them because they are already gone.

This one was also $3. I used a vase I already had and filled it with table scatter.

I can't wait for BBQ time! I'll be using these as my silverware holder. Only $2 each.

Have a happy and safe 4th!

Dehydrated Potatoes

I had my doubts about these potatoes.  Especially when I opened the bag and saw that one of them was starting to sprout. Since I wasn't in the mood to eat 6 potatoes by myself, I knew they would just go bad without preserving them. The only experience I've had with dehydrated potatoes is with Betty-Crocker-type scalloped potatoes which always leaves you wishing you would have just used real potatoes.

Dehydrated Bell Peppers

I thought I would spice up this post with some funny facts about bell peppers. However out of the 1.4 million results they were all nutritional or historical in nature. So basically bell peppers: not funny.

Dehydrated Mushrooms

I used to hate mushrooms. They taste like dirt and have the consistency of dead snails. The only way I would eat them before was on pizza, but that's just because everything is good on pizza. Although I will probably never be the girl that eats a portabella mushroom as an entree, I am warming up to them....in small doses.

Dehydrated Onions

Do you like the smell of onions? Do you want it to permeate everything in your house? Do you like your eyes stinging throughout the day? Then dehydrating onions is right for you! I'm telling you this to save you from onion-scented curtains: move the dehydrator outside. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

Crockpot Day 6 - Vegetable Fajitas

It has been raining for days. I say it like it's a huge inconvenience except that we've had two months of sunny, spring-like weather in the dead of winter. It's rough living in California.

Crockpot Day 5 - Black-Eyed Pea Stew

Isn't there some kind of superstition about eating black-eyed peas on New Year's and it brings you money? Does it still count if I eat them in February? Let's hope I'm not a month too late. I consider it lucky when 1) I can just toss everything into a slow cooker and dinner is ready when my husband comes home and 2) my baby likes what I make. So in a sense these black-eyed peas were very lucky.

Crockpot Day 4 - Super Yummy Potatoes

This should really be called the never-gonna-have-leftover Crockpot potatoes. I should know because potatoes are my weakness. For Thanksgiving, I have a second helping of mashed potatoes for dessert. I can make a main dish out cheese and potatoes. And for Christmas, my mother-in-law doesn't even have to ask what I will eat at her house, she knows it's scalloped potatoes.

Crockpot Day 3 - Vegetarian Chili

Technically speaking, I didn't ACTUALLY make this. I am, however, completely taking credit and including in my Crockpot specials. I mean it was my husband's idea to have company, so he was in charge of food. Crockpot chili is essential for game day food and ours is vegetarian.

Crockpot Day 2 - Lentil Soup

Is there anything better than staying home on a gray, cloudy day with the smell of soup cooking in the Crockpot? I think this is the best. Paired with some homemade bread and this meal was fantastic. Even the baby loved it.

Crockpot Day 1 - Veggie Broth

I use a lot of veggie broth. In soup bases, in rice dishes, sometimes I dump a little in when cooking vegetables. Since I hate to pay for it, I've gotten into a habit of freezing the ends and discards from vegetables I'm cooking or the ones at the end of the week that are unused. Apparently my husband has never watched me make stock because this was our conversation:

Taco Seasoning

Spices (Including Paprika And Chili Peppers), Onion, Salt, Lactose (Milk), Sugar, Garlic, Enriched WheatFlour (Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Cocoa Powder Processed With Alkali, Citric Acid, And Natural Flavor.

This is a list of the ingredients in a packet of taco seasoning (I'm always suspicious of "Natural Flavor" what is that??) and seriously milk? Weird. But I've always used these packets because, um hello, TACOS are delicious, even for us vegetarians. 

New Year's, Shmoo Year's

I have a serious problem with kitchen do-dads. No really, I'm the proverbial Little Mermaid of kitchenware.

I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty

I've got whose-its and whats-it galore

You want thing-a-ma-bobs?

I've got 20!

It's a trait inherited directly from my Nana (along with clipping and saving recipes).  She was a real kitchen gadget kinda gal. I remember looking through the kitchen drawers and playing with all these little plastic tools. I'm convinced it's encoded in my DNA. At least that's my excuse.

So as my many small appliances are gathering dust in the corners of my cabinets, I've decided to embark on a New Year's Resolution: I'm going to use them all. I mean, not all at once. It would look like the PeeWee's Big Adventure kitchen if I did that. I mean I'm going to select one appliance and use it. Not only will it force me to use what I have (and not eat out!) but perhaps at the end I may find there are some things I should purge.

Use it or lose it should be my 2014 motto.

Vampire Wreath

Me: Do you like my new wreath?

Mom: Are those boobs?

Me: What? No it's fangs....for halloween

Mom: It could be saggy boobs.

Me: Maybe we shouldn't talk about saggy boobs when I'm still breastfeeding.

Halloween Porch

Now that Fall has officially arrived, with it comes HALLOWEEN. This is a bit more exciting since it is the first time I have a little one around. Even though he's not going to remember this one, I'm starting early with holiday traditions and decorating for Halloween with be one of them.

Fall Wreath

I am SO glad that fall is starting. Northern California heat coupled with my postpartum hot flashes have sent me into this new loathing of all things summer. I'm ready for apple crisps, falling leaves and delta breezes.

Discovery Bottles

My baby is getting bigger. At 7 months I can barely equate him to the little puffy newborn he was just mere months ago. Now he is old enough to sit, grasp and crawl. That means this is my new life:

Put him on the floor. 30 SECONDS

No! Not the TV box. Get up, reposition him. 30 SECONDS.

Ack! Not my shoes. Get up, reposition him. 30 SECONDS.

Oh! Not the power cords. Get up, reposition him. 30 SECONDS.....

Repeat for hours.

Chocolate Sauce

Pregnancy is over but I have a residual sweet tooth that I can't get rid of and it hits every night. At any given time you can find ingredients to make cookies, cake or other tasty treats hidden in my cupboard. Last night I was all about the ice cream in the freezer but the plain old vanilla needed something a little extra. Then I realized I had the ingredients for chocolate sauce.

Terrarium

I've already said I am not a gardener. I stopped buying house plants a long time ago and recently gave up outdoor plants after the slow death of a hanging flower basket. But my mom, the optimist, gave me a small greenhouse with 6 succulents as a gift.