My Newest Project - Featuring KoJo Designs!

My newest crafting project has been going on for oh, about a month now. I saw this amazing quilt while blog hopping a while ago and I had to make it! It was made by KoJo Designs. Check out their blog...they make all kinds of awesome things!They have a tutorial on their blog, so I started making one of my own. Theirs is made of jersey cotton (or T-shirt material), but I couldn't find any T-shirt sheets (or enough T-shirts) that were affordable. Instead I bought some white muslin at Walmart for $1.67/yd! (Cost ~$23). For a king sized quilt, you have to make 56 squares! I made about 4-5 squares a night while watching TV. I'm finally to the stage of sewing it all together! I have 8 rows of 7 squares already sewed together and four of those rows are completely sewn together, so I'm half way there :) For the past year or so, my bed has been covered with a plain old white down comforter. I can't wait to use this new one! I'll do another post when it's done to show off my finished product.

Not only will I have a beautiful quilt, but it will be made with my own 2 hands for about $50! And in the process, I've fallen in love with my sewing machine again. You know how it is when you don't use something for a while, you have a "reacquainting" process. I'm finally back in the groove and can't wait to sew some more goodies after I finish this. I've got some really cool projects up my sleeve.

My Super Sneaky Mommy Trick

So, my kids are not vegetable eaters. They eat all of the other food groups: grains, protein, dairy, and fruit, but no veggies. The only veggie they really like is corn, which we all know

really isn't a veggie!

I've been sneaking spinach into our meals gradually, but I wanted to find a way to get them the veggies they need. About a year ago, I bought Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It got stuck in my cabinet with my other cookbooks and I rediscovered it this week!

Last night, I made Applesauce Muffins (with carrot puree, shhhh!). They were super simple to make and super delish to eat! Layne loved hers this morning and I even had 2 on my way to work.

Here's the recipe with my slight modifications:

Topping

* 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats (mine were instant oats...worked fine)
* 1/4 cup firmly packed light/dark brown sugar
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 2 tbsp margarine spread, melted (I used light butter)

Batter
* 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup old-fashioned oats
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon* 1.5 cup unsweetened applesauce (I didn't have applesauce, but made my own with baked apple puree)
* 1/2 cup skim milk (we used 1%)
* 1/2 cup carrot puree
* 1/2 cup firmly packed light/dark brown sugar
* 1 egg (or egg substitute)

You combine powders separately and mix everything else (purees, egg, brown sugar, milk). Then add the powder mixture to the "everything else" mixture.

Put in muffin tin & top with the topping. Bake for 12-15 minutes @ 375F...and voila! Veggies for your kids (or your hubbies, if yours is like mine :))

Here's one of tonights dinner!!

And one of my kiddies :)

Love & Blessings!

Meal Plan Monday

One of the things that I've been trying to do is plan my meals for the week (often 2 weeks in advance!). This accomplishes two things for me: 1) I only buy what I need at the grocery = savings lots of money! and 2) Way less stress for me to figure out what to make for supper = one happy momma!

I thought I'd share with you. Please comment and share what you had or are having for dinner. Hopefully it can be an idea starter and everyone can get some ideas for some new meals.

Monday - Baked Cavatelli (thanks to my Betty Crocker Cookbook!), French Loaf bread

Tuesday - Breakfast for Supper - Pancakes & Fruit, Bacon, Sausage Links (left over from Monday!)

Wednesday - Dance Night = Leftovers or Pizza

Thursday - Chicken Alfredo Pizzas (Pizza Crust, Alfredo Sauce, Mozzarella, Chicken, and

Spinach)

Friday - Grill Out (Hamburgers & Hotdogs), Mac & Cheese, Green Beans

Saturday - Pork Loin (Recipe thanks to Food Network!), Brown Rice, Veggies

Sunday - Chicken Parmesan, Salad, Garlic Bread

So, what're you eating?

Love and Blessings!

My First Post!!

Doesn't every blog have a first post titled - My First Post! !?! So I'm giving blogging another chance. I had a couponing blog for, oh, about 3 or 4 months. I just couldn't keep up with working full-time and spending time with my beautiful kids. Plus, there were so many other awesome blogs out there for couponing.

So this is my second attempt at blogging. I really want to do this to be able to look back when my kids are bigger and to be able to see what they were doing from my perspective. They are so unique and funny and creative and so much more.

Just like today, Layne found some monkey headphones that she never really used before and has been listening to my old iPod with them. She jamming around the house and decides to ask me a question. She talked soo loud because her music was loud and it cracked me up. She's so smart, but still so innocent. It's bittersweet to see her grow up.

And Grayson is totally my little "Class Clown." He finds whatever makes everyone laugh and does it over and over again until it isn't funny anymore :) Like today, sitting in his seat eating lunch he acts like he's sleeping. I play along, "Oh Layne, you better be quiet, Grayson's sleeping." Then he opens his eyes and laughes and we say, "Oh, you woke up." And everyone laughed. So he did it again and again and again. I can totally see him being the kid that's in the principal's office for trying to make everyone laugh (or doing something bad :)).

So that's it for my first post...

Love & Blessings!