Night-Night Mat

One of the more popular pins on Pinterest is that of a lounging mat made from sewing pillowcases together and inserting pillows.  It looks a great idea and one that would be fun and useful to have for a long time.  I would've loved to have had one as a kid.

Rather than buy brand-new pillowcases, I decided to look in my local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores to see if I could find anything that would work.  I knew I also didn't want to buy brand-new pillows because that would be crazy expensive.  I like to walk through the thrift stores gathering ideas.  About a week ago, I found a great alternative:  a bumper pad for a crib and a really cute Barbie-themed sheet.  (The only way you can tell it's a Barbie sheet is because it has the logo in one of the circles at the top.)  Surprisingly, the bed sheet was for a full-sized bed, so there was plenty for this project and enough leftover for some future project.  Total cost:  $5.98 plus tax!

Here is the blue crib bumper cut into three segments and then zig-zagged on the cut edges.

Here is the uber-cute bed sheet (folded in half).

First, I hand-stitched the three segments of the bumper together.  That's when I noticed I had some uneven edges.  Easy fix by cutting down and doing a zig-zag stitch with the sewing machine.

As you can see, I was all over the place with stitching them together.  I started off with a made-up figure eight stitch that didn't work.  Then I did another stitch and another weird technique.  It was driving me crazy because it was taking so long to stitch them together.  I didn't want to be hand-stitching on this thing for a week.  I finally resorted to stitching them together at certain points.

I laid the bedsheet out, put the crib bumper on top, folded the sheet over and then drew lines where I wanted to cut them.

This is after I sewed the long side (right sides together).  I don't know how the bottom got all un-squared.  Fortunately, I had left PLENTY of extra room, making it longer and wider than necessary just in case I had problems.  After sewing the bottom, I used my pinking shears to cut off the excess, turned it inside out, inserted the bumper pad, and was done!

Here, Gracie is posing for the picture, going "night-night" on her new nap mat.

Gracie enjoyed playing on the nap mat while Robert and I watched TV.  Here, she is riding her horsey while we watched "Have Gun, Will Travel."  She had never done that before.  I thought it was too cute!

I'm really happy with how it turned out.  In a way, I wish I could've made it thicker like the pillows, but I think this will do just fine.  Certainly can't beat the price!

Original Sources:

Source: gltc.co.uk via Ava on Pinterest

Source: norestforthecreative.blogspot.com via Ava on Pinterest

Southwestern Egg Rolls

One of my favorite menu items at J. Alexander's is their Huevas Rolls (not sure if I spelled that right).  I could eat a whole plate of them and call it a night.  I don't, but I could!  Sam's Club has sold some frozen ones that are quite good, too.

I looked at allrecipes.com to see if I could find something similar that I can make at home.

Here is the recipe that I found and tried.



Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
2 Tablespoons minced green onion (did not use, didn't have)
2 Tablespoons minced red bell pepper (did not use, didn't have)
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tablespoons frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (did not use, too lazy to thaw it out)
2 Tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers (had to use the jarred kind)
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (used dried)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I think I used taco blend or something similar)
5 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 quart oil for deep frying (did not use)

Directions:

Rub 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil over chicken breast.  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook chicken approximately 5 minutes per side, until meat is not longer pink and juices run clear.  Remove from heat and set aside.  (I had to finish it off in the microwave.  In the future, I will cut it into strips and cook to make sure they get cooked completely.)

Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in green onion and red pepper.  Cook and stir five minutes until tender.

Dice chicken and mix into the pan with onion and red pepper.  Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.  Cook and stir five minutes until well-blended and tender.  Remove from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.

Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth.  Microwave on high approximately one minute or until hot and pliable. (I did not do this step.)

Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla.  Fold ends of tortillas, then roll lightly around mixture.  Secure with toothpicks (did not do this).  Arrange in a medium dish, cover with plastic, and place in the freezer.  Freeze at least four hours.

In a large, deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Deep fry frozen, stuffed tortillas 10 minutes each, or until dark golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

After putting the mix in the tortillas, I rolled them up and put them in a dish, but I didn't freeze or fry them.  We heated them up in the microwave and ate them that way.  They were quite good!  For the last one, Robert took out the mixture and cooked it with scrambled eggs to make a breakfast burrito.  That also was very good!!

Blog Post Roundup (11/12/2011)

Hello Everyone!  I've been somewhat MIA for the last few weeks.  Most of my posts have been scheduled posts that I actually wrote awhile back.  We've been rather busy.  I have a few new posts coming that have to do with some projects I've been working on. (Update:  This was supposed to go out last week, but I didn't get a chance to put more than a few links.)

Here are some of the posts I've been "starring" on Google Reader so that I can share with you.


Thankful-Training

One Blogger's Confession about Blogs


Kneeling and Healing

Be Faithful

Why Children Should Not Be Forced to Share


Funny Baby Videos Go Viral

The Christian Lady's Survival Kit

Three Little Words That Lift


11 Ways to Teach Your Children to be Diligent Workers


Children, Chores, Money, and More!

Finding Your Creative Side!

Stewarding Time with Wisdom

What About the Child Who Grabs the Toy?

Spiced Cider

In general I'm not a huge fan of hot drinks -- with two exceptions:  hot chocolate and hot apple cider.  I found this Spiced Cider on Pinterest and was glad when we had a cold spell so that I could make it!

Spiced Cider

Ingredients:
1 gallon apple cider
1 cup orange juice
1 Tbs lemon juice
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes or keep warm on low.  Strain and serve.

My husband bought the apple cider and since I didn't specify a quantity, he came back with a half-gallon jug of it.  This turned out great because it was enough to keep me happy without feeling like I had to drink the whole thing before it went bad.  I don't think my husband is quite the fan of hot apple cider that I am.  So, I more or less halved the recipe, with the exception of the cinnamon.  Without thinking, I put in 3 whole cinnamon sticks (which I broke in half), and I guestimated on the lemon juice and it was probably more like 1 Tbs.

It turned out very good!  It's not so good when it has cooled down, but it's easy to warm back up in the microwave.

I look forward to enjoying this recipe for many years.

Original Source:

Source: oldhousekitchen.com via Ava on Pinterest

Nightgown Made from Pillowcase

Pinterest is quickly becoming a huge timewaster favorite way to gather ideas.  I found this cute tutorial for making a nightgown out of a pillow case.  Nightgowns are very hard to find, and I love simple, fun projects.

Laying out the pattern pieces.

 I thought I took more pictures of the process, but apparently not!  Sorry about that!

All ready for night-night!

Look! There's Papa!

I'm very happy with how it turned out.   It's big (made to be about size 4T), but that just means she can wear it longer.

A few notes about the process:

Don't use a seam ripper to open up the top part of the pillowcase.  Just use your scissors to cut open.

The hardest parts will be doing the gathering for the ruffled sleeves and attaching to the skirt.  Still, very useful techniques to learn (or re-learn, in my case).

I have never made buttonholes, so I didn't go that route.  I used double-fold bias tape (I think that's the correct name) which I already had on hand to finish off the neck and back and to make the ties.  It's a little rough and stiff for my preferences, but it'll do.  Maybe next time, I'll use blanket binding which I think is more like ribbon which would be smoother and more flexible.

This project cost me $0.99 (plus tax) for the pillowcase at the local Salvation Army.  I already had the double-fold bias tape on hand, but that's inexpensive as well, and the remaining parts can be used for other projects (like more nightgowns!).

I'm going to let her wear this even in winter.  I prefer her to wear nightgowns (though she does have some pajamas, but we will transition to all nightgowns).  For wintertime, I will have her wear "longjohns" (thermal underwear) underneath her nightgowns.  This is pretty much what I do myself.

To see what else I'm working on, or planning on working on, check out my "Do Soon" board on Pinterest.  As I complete the projects, I'll blog about them.  Feel free to "pin me."

Original Source:

Source: gingercake.typepad.com via Ava on Pinterest

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Here is another "copy cat" recipe for Olive Garden's Salad Dressing.

Simply mix the following ingredients together in a blender or food processor:









1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons Romano cheese (I couldn't find this, so it didn't go in.)
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

This makes about a cup of dressing.  Don't do like I did and just pour it into a measuring cup.  I knocked it to the floor a few days later when getting something else from the fridge.  Big mess.

I didn't actually try it, but Robert did.  He said it was good.  I don't quite remember if he said he thought it tastes like Olive Garden or not, but he did like it.

Gracie enjoys a muffin tin lunch!