Wake up call

I'm taking a bit of a different angle on this week's topic of BAGS. Let me start out by asking the question, "Who's tired?" It's OK if you raise your hand. No one will know what you're doing unless they're looking over your shoulder this moment. If you're like me, the BAGS under my eyes make my current state of mind quite obvious.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume I'm not alone. Who can blame us? Whether our exhaustion comes from working, mommy-ing, playing (the good kind of exhaustion), or simply the result of a foolish decision to stay up way past our bedtime, it can show on our faces, and in my case it does!

So what to do? All sorts of expensive serums, surgeries, acupuncture and gadgets claim to take away the evidence of our exhaustion. But I'm not exactly in the market for one of these:

(eye massager - what the ???)

Anyway, I decided to try a couple of home remedies and give you my review.

• Of course, you've seen the old cucumber-slices-on-the-eyes trick. Place a slice on each eye for 15 minutes. The coolness will help under-eye tissues contract. Pro: inexpensive, cooling sensation, effective. Con: must repeat several times a day to retain effectiveness.


• Tea bags. Ironic that you would use bags to get rid of bags, eh? This is my favorite remedy. After getting your daily antioxidants from your tea (this is one of my favorites), place two used tea bags in the fridge and apply one to each eye for 15 minutes. Pro: inexpensive, feels good, stays on eyes better than cucumbers because you can really fit it on your eyes, effective. Con: same as cucumbers. And you look sorta freaky, so make sure your little kids aren't around to see Mommy with black eyes.


• Diet. I'm not a big salt-craver, but I've been more aware of the sodium levels in my diet. Salt can make you retain water, and under your eyes is one place it likes to settle. Drink ample water to flush salts and toxins from your system. Pro: looking and feeling good. Con: none, other than the discipline to monitor what you're putting in your body, but we should be doing that anyway.


• Hemmorhoid cream. This is one I haven't tried, but I've heard it touted as a viable and effective treatment. It works to constrict the tissues just like it does for the *ahem* original intended use. Apply it under your eyes twice a day. Pros: less expensive than pricey eye creams, effective, less applications needed. Cons: getting it in your eye, and living with the knowledge of exactly what you're putting on your face!

What tried-and-true remedies do you use to keep yourself looking awake, refreshed and glowingly radiant? You know you have some secrets to your beauty regime, so spill it. And here's to looking and feeling gorgeous!

Skirt to Bag: A Tutorial and Giveaway

I just love making old things into new things, don't you? Before I ever throw anything out, I'm always asking myself how I could possibly re-vamp it to make it useful again. And I adore seeing re-made old things when I shop; there's just all sorts of cleverness out there when it comes to making something from another thing! Here's my take on it today, using an old skirt and some fabric scraps.

Please forgive the highly random image-quality here. The photos were taken over the course of the day (so I lost my natural light) and I believe some children who shall remain nameless kept changing the camera's settings ... :)

Okay, so first I took an old ill-fitting skirt, and hacked the bottom off to be used elsewhere (I'm adding a ruffle to the bottom of a too-short but super-cute skirt, but that's another project):



And a couple blocks of cute fabric (these are about 14.5" x 11"):


I laid the fabric on top of the skirt and trimmed the skirt down to size:


Like this:



Then I noticed that the top of the skirt was curved. So I curved the top of the fabric pieces, too:



Next, I took a scrap of a different fabric (simply because I didn't have enough of the first one ... but they look alright together, right?) and cut two pieces to the size I wanted the inside pocket to be (they ended up to be 11" x 7"):


To make the pocket, I sewed the pieces right-sides together, leaving an opening for turning. Then I clipped the corners, turned right-side out, pressed, and stitched the pocket to the lining, using the open end as the bottom so that stitching it to the lining would close the opening:

Later, I realized that the pocket was placed entirely too low, and had to dismantle and reposition. I do stuff like that all the time, though, so it was only a minor frustration ... :) The waistband on this skirt had a little flap on the inside that I could attach the top of the lining to, tucking it under the flap and then stitching across:

(I totally left the tag on ...
it's a reminder that this bag used to be something completely different.
And that makes me happy :)

With outside right-sides together, sew it all together around the sides and bottom, like this:


Much later, after the bag was all done, my good friend and fellow Praiseworthy blogger, Jen, suggested adding some bias tape to finish up the raw edges. So I did, but I'll put the photos here because this is where that step should go:


Next comes the shoulder strap, which I made by cutting a piece of fabric 5" x width-of-fabric. I kept it long to start with because I wasn't sure how long I wanted it to end up. Then I folded it in half, stitched along the long edge, turned and pressed with the seam in the middle, like this:


To make the strap more substantial, I cut a piece of quilt batting 2" x really-really-long and slid it into the strap through an open end:



Then I cut it to the length I wanted, pressed it, and sewed lines along the length to keep the batting in place:


Next, I wanted a way to close the bag, so I took a piece of excess strap and cut it down to a nice size, rounded one end and stitched it closed:


Then I turned the closure piece and pressed it, stitched around the edge, and fished out my sewing machine manual to try and remember how to make a button-hole. Once that was done, I turned the open end in, and stitched the closure strap to the inside of the bag, like this:


Added a button and the straps, hiding the inside raw edges at the top of the bag as I did so:



And ... done!


I purposely made the closure strap a little too long like that, so that the bag could be closed when full, like this:

(It's a hardback copy of Don Delillo's "Underworld",
in case you were wondering what's inside ... )

And here's how it hangs. And yes, the fabric I used for the pocket and straps is the same as my curtains. I just adore that fabric! :)



Hooray, a new bag! Do you like it? Would you like it? Because I want to give it to you. Leave a comment below and tell me where you would shop if time and distance and money and small children were not an object, and I'll draw a random name out of a hat (or a bowl ... or a bag ... maybe *this* bag!) on Friday (that's March 12, say, around noon pacific time?). I'll post the winner soon thereafter.

Defined by My Bag

photo credit

You know how people say they can tell a lot about a person just by looking at their shoes?  Well, I think that you can tell more about that person by their bag and the contents contained.  Let me just show you by using myself as an example.

My Bag's Exterior:  Simple. Usually cotton or linen. Pretty enough to buy and use but not eye grabbing or trendy in any way. Plain. Sturdy. Mostly practical with a few embellishments. On the bigger side. And a little scuffed on the edges.

photo credit

My Exterior: Simple (I don't think I even own anything fancy). Although I am not made of cotton I do wear it more than anything else. I must have been pretty enough to marry and keep but I don't think I have been "looked at" by anyone but my sweet husband since...and I don't mind. I don't even understand what trendy really is or means.  I wear a lot of t-shirts and jeans and I have since I was...well...small and kid like. I'm plain but most people like my hair.  I think it's time efficient.  I consider myself to be sturdy and strong. I don't have jewelry because I lose it or break it...although I do have a pair or silver tiny hoop earrings that never leave my ears.  As much as I hope to one day be tiny and frail I do have "big bones" and Popeye calves which I have come to accept and even love because I got them from my dad and I love my dad!  Finally I too am also a little scuffed on the edges because I have kids, I like dirt and sidewalk chalk is the greatest invention ever!

My Bag's Content Right Now: IPod and head phones, water bottle, toy cars, scraps of current fabric projects, Ducklin (Sadie's stuffed love right now), Personal Progress book, flashlight, crumbs, a book called "What Dad's Can't Do," bloomers (diaper cover for baby girls), toothbrush, big bag of wipies, crayons, more crumbs, Sadie's jacket, a bird toy, two kid snack containers, my wallet and phone should be in here, scriptures, camera, a paper towel, more crumbs, an old handout from church, 3 diapers, a coloring book, stickers, pen and a small journal.

Me: I love to exercise as long as I am hydrated and kick'n it to my favorite tunes.  I love my kids...especially when they are happy and content while I am out.  I am always looking for something to match something when it comes to sewing and quilt making.  I think I love Ducklin as much as both my kids do.  I find things that are worn and loved to be sweet and story like.  I am the personal progress leader in my ward so carrying this around helps me stay focused on that. I would like to think that I put the flashlight in my bag to be prepared and ready for anything but that's not me.  That's my boy Payton.  The crumbs must just symbolize the way I feel about cleaning.  No matter how much I do it or how often I keep things up...there will always be something more to do.  My new motto is not to clean to keep it that way but to clean so that it doesn't get to bad.  Crumbs are not bad...they are just there like laundry and dishes...always there.  The book...we'll just leave it as that. I don't always carry this book.  That would be weird.  I do find it funny that today it's in there and in this post and that it just reminded me how much I miss my traveling husband.  The boomers are like the hoodies I put on right before I have to answer the door first thing in the morning to hide my breakfast covered shirt.  It's there to hide from the world what's real and sort of yucky.  The toothbrush is the only thing that keeps Sadie happy sometimes...and I live for these things.  I am forgetful.  I have good intentions. I usually remember the things that aren't important so important things like keys and wallets are often replaced around here.  I like the idea of capturing memories with photos but I normally forget the camera is even in my bag.  I like enjoying the moment and thinking I'll write about them later, but I never do.  That's sad.  The journal is in there just in case I like what I see or I need to write down an idea I get.  Living here in the Seattle area makes for some pretty fun day trips and for some excellent window shopping.  If I wasn't super forgetful then I wouldn't need this.  Although I do forget the pen most of the time.

The last thing I almost forgot to mention is that at the beginning of the week this bag is usually organized and well thought out but within a few hours it's basically chaos.  So it is like my house, my thoughts, my creations, my kids...my life.  That's okay though.  I have everything I could ever need. 

What's your bag like?

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

If there is one food I cannot live without, it is my mom's raspberry peach jam. To me, it nestles nicely into a category I call "Mom's Recipes". These are the ones she makes so perfectly that no matter where she got them they will always be hers; and no matter how hard I try, they never taste exactly the same when I make them. That is why we make this one together every year, and it is seriously the ONLY jam I eat. It's kind of odd that I would be so enthusiastic about this jam because I don't really like jam--I've never been a fan of things that are filled with fruit spreads like NutriGrain bars or jelly-filled doughnuts. Yuck! However, I have had a few delicious jars of homemade jam, lovingly prepared by friends, which I did like. But when it comes to this stuff, I can't get enough of it! This jam is thinner, more syrupy than most, and makes everything it touches taste like complete bliss. I created the perfect birthday breakfast cake (because breakfast is a favorite meal at our house) this year when my wonderful hubby, who LOVES pancakes, turned 29. To honor him I made a 29-layer pancake tower, layered with butter and powdered sugar alternating with, of course, raspberry peach jam.

When you're planning your summer canning this year, don't leave this recipe out!

Jean's Raspberry Peach Jam

5 lbs. peaches (10 cups)
5 lbs. sugar (10 cups)
2 1/2 cups raspberries
2 Tbs. lemon juice

Boil.  Once it comes to a boil, boil 10 minutes.
Add 2 large packages of Raspberry Jell-o.
Boil 10 minutes more.
Put in hot, clean jars, Seal.

It's a pretty simple recipe--hard to go wrong with that. As my three-year-old loves to say "Easy peasy, lemon breezy!"

A more recent addition to the collection of my family's recipes is for these whole wheat waffles.
I have changed the original recipe by cutting the oil (it used to be one whole cup) and adding in flax (which change, by the way, entitles me to claim it as my own recipe, right?). Just one word of warning--this recipe makes A LOT, so use a big bowl and plan to freeze some for later or have friends over to share them! And they are just as good toasted-up out of the freezer, really, truly. Not to mention that my girls gobble them up, which I can't say about many foods. Our favorite toppings are (of course) Raspberry Peach jam, sliced peaches or fresh fruit, or sliced bananas and whipped cream. MMmmmmmmmm!

Teeples Wonderful Waffles

4 egg whites
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour (I grind my own wheat and use the pastry or fine setting on my mill for this flour--it makes it just that much better!)
1 3/4 cups white flour (I use bread flour)
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
3 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup cold milled flaxseed

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Combine dry ingredients (including flax) in a large mixing bowl. Combine egg yolks, milk, and oil. Add all at once to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in beaten egg whites. Cook in waffle iron until brown. Serve with your favorite toppings. These freeze quite nicely for toaster waffles on busy mornings (as I mentioned before). If you do mill your own flour on a fine setting you can make this recipe with all whole-wheat flour (which I haven't tried yet).


Enjoy, please, do enjoy!

To Follow Up...

There was a question from last week's post about a website for my photography...enjoy :)

 

www.teeplesphotography.com

Defined Tastes

There are plenty of foods I could live without. Mushrooms, fish, shrimp, lobster, cream corn, artichokes, squeaky cheese, well all cheese except cheddar and mozzarella pretty much, lemon meringue pie, pie crust with sweet pie filling (I like it with savory things like chicken pot pie, but not sweet things), the list goes on. I can not think of any more at the moment, but I know there are more. I am probably considered a picky eater. I just consider myself defined in the food world. My son only likes carbs and protein. He is pretty defined in his food habits too. He is young, it can change.

My mother-in-law is a dietitian. She has a lot of ideas on how to get kids to eat new things. I have have been using them on myself too. Here is some advice if you or your child needs it.

1) If your child or you say you don't like it, keep serving it anyways. It takes 13 times before a child may actually try something.

2) A rule at our house is you are not aloud to say you don't like it unless you have tried it. So our kids have to taste one of everything at dinner. They don't have to eat it all, they just have to taste it. I have been doing this too. My husband has been proud when I will taste his fish or shrimp when we are out to eat. I am trying to grow my pallet.

3) Let your kids help in the kitchen. If they help make it, they are more enthusiastic to try it.

4) Don't let your child snack all day and then expect them to eat dinner. They will not be hungry. Don't give them snacks or juice in the hour before dinner.

5) Make food fun. Kids love to dip there food and they love there food in fun shapes. You can also serve many colors of food. Make it look appealing.

6) Turn of the TV during dinner. No books or newspapers at the table. Minimize the distractions around you. It is better for family meal time anyways.

7) Don't be a short order cook! This is the most important of all. If you make yourself dinner and your kids something else you are only making things worse. You are encouraging the behavior. Make dinner and give choices. If they are really picky you can offer one thing you know they will eat as a side dish, but don't offer them something else if they will not eat dinner. My kids go to bed hungry some nights, but I am not a short order cook. I think too many people fall into this habit. I have done it before. Your kids will pick up that dinner time is eating-what-is-offered not eating-what-I-want time. Eventually they will eat dinner by cutting out the rest of the fillers you give them when they won't eat.

So what do my kids love for dinners (my 4-year-old daughter is right here, these are her exact answers). Noodles, green beans, pancakes, chicken, beans, quesadilas, sour cream, mashed potatoes, carrots, etc... She is my awesome eater. We have to be careful while we are cutting up our green peppers because she will eat them all before they make it in the pan if we are not careful. The "picky" eater is a new thing for us with my youngest. He will come around, I know he will.

To share a recipe, we had this last night for dinner Fettuccine with Sweet Pepper Cayenne Sauce. The only difference was we added an onion and used gamelli pasta instead of fettuccine. My kids ate more then my husband and me combined. It was delicious!

Pairings

We live in wine country...and coffee country, two epicurean concoctions I know very little about. But considering many of my Catholic friends are giving them up for Lent, I'm assuming that for many people, they're difficult to live without. There are different beverages to pair with certain cuisines, and in case you didn't know, you never EVER drink wine from a box or coffee with crystals in it.

Anywho, onto something I do know about. And if I were observing Lent, you can bet it would be a huge sacrifice to give up this:

I'm somewhat of a sommelier for non-alcoholic libations. Wonder what beverage pairs best with Mexican food? Diet Coke. What about bbq? Why, lemonade of course. And pizza? Root beer or creme soda, unless you're in the Seattle area and you get your pizza here, in which case you MUST get this.

(rosemary lemonade)

But, the quintessential pairing that goes with EVERYTHING is milk. I buy 2 gallons each week, and we use it all up. We slurp it from our cereal bowls, gulp it from tall glasses, and whisk it up in our creamy scrambled eggs. Growing up, my dad's coworker had a few milk cows, and we regularly trekked to their house for giant 2-gallon glass jars of milk, and that was some of the best white heaven I've ever had. We skimmed the cream off the top and ladled it on top of waffles and strawberry jam. Don't knock it before you try it!

Of course, we must have milk with an occasionally cookie treat, although I'm not a dunker...I like to keep my milk white and free of "floaties." In honor of this classic duo, here's one of my new favorite recipes. It's a revision of one I grew up enjoying, healthy alterations courtesy of one of my big sisters, Gerilyn. You only need these 5 ingredients:

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box cake mix (I used carrot cake, but you can also use spice cake or even gingerbread)

3 mashed ripe bananas

2/3 cup egg substitute (or 3 eggs)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips

Combine all together and drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. These are VERY moist, so when you put them away in a plastic tub or ziploc bag, I would recommend not shutting the lid or zip top tight. Recipe makes 4 dozen cookies, and I figured out the nutrition facts per cookie: 61 calories, 1 gram fat, less than 1 gram fiber, 1 gram protein.

One more favorite with milk:

Slow Cooker Rice Pudding

1 quart milk

1 cup sugar

1 cup long grain rice (not Minute)

1 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 eggs

Combine milk, sugar, rice, lemon, nutmeg and salt in slow cooker. Cook on the lowest setting for 6-8 hours or until rice is tender. Beat eggs. Turn off slow cooker and fold in eggs. Stir thoroughly and let stand for 10 minutes. The heat from the rice will cook the eggs without scrambling them. Serve warm or cold with raisins, nuts and/or additional milk on top.

What's your favorite way to use milk?

Missing Meat, or Where's the Beef?

If all else fails, play with your food!

When people ask me about my decision to become a vegetarian, they will often remark that they couldn't possibly live without eating meat. In fact, I've been without meat for so long that I sometimes will forget that it's even out there. But I do appreciate the sentiment and how it makes me think about what foods I couldn't - or wouldn't want to - live without. And there are so many! Here are a few of my recent and classic favorites:

Perfect Protein Salad from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. I always use frozen soybeans and have never made it with cottage cheese or tofu. Make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for quick, yummy lunch all week.

Moosewood Muffins are another favorite from the Moosewood folks. Have you not heard of the Moosewood Restaurant? Oh my goodness, I dream of eating there, their cookbooks are so fabulous. I love these muffins because they're simple and versatile. In fact, I just made a couple dozen (with peaches and pecans) to put in the freezer.

My daughter, as a rule, will not eat soup. Except when I make Colorful Corn Chowder. I use about half the corn (or less) than the recipe says to, though, and will sometimes add in some "real" potatoes.

While we haven't historically been big fans of tofu, it's been making a more frequent appearance at our house with Spicy Tofu Bento Bowl from Vegetarian Times magazine and Pastor Ryan's Tikka Masala (which we made with garbanzo beans and tofu instead of the chicken), both of which were instant hits.

And it just wouldn't be a favorites list without Spanakopita, which always reminds me of my mother even though I don't make it like she does; and Cincinnati Chili, which reminds me of my dad and I haven't had in forever because I haven't figured out a way to make it meatless and delicious at the same time. I think it's the only meat dish I really miss.

As for the grocery list, I simply cannot make macaroni and cheese without Beecher's Flagship cheese and Tim's Cascade Jalapeno potato chips (crumbled on top instead of bread crumbs). And there is a gaping hole in our pantry whenever we run out of Dilettante's Bittersweet Ephemere chocolate sauce. Heaven forbid we ever move away from the Pacific Northwest!

How about you?
What are your tried-and-true favorite foods?
Have you deleted something from your diet? How do you live without it?

Food for Thought

This morning, waking up with enough time to enjoy the quiet peaceful dawn break, I sat at my kitchen table thinking about and planning for my week ahead. 

I knew that I wanted it to be better then the last.

I wanted to keep the spirit of my uplifting weekend with me for as long as possible.

And that I was going to finally act on some reaccuring promtings I had been having.

There are actually a lot of foods that I would miss if they were to disapear from my home like this one

or my favorite grab and go snack

but nothing I couldn't really live without... unless of course you count my morning ritual of baked steel cut oats and some feasting on my favorite word. 

Recently I have thought a lot about Rachel's fun idea on rituals instead of routines and have discovered some of my favorite moments and some of my sweetest thoughts have come while doing this particular one:

I wake up early (before my kids need my attention and after I  have sent cute hubby off to work).

Then I turn on some sort of calm music.

I put something yummy in the oven just for me. 

Steel cut oats (not rolled).

Rinse and put in covered (ceramic) baking dish.

Cold water to cover by a scant inch.

Pinch salt.

Add a little vanilla or brown sugar.

Lid on.

400 degrees for 45 minutes, untouched. 

So yummy if dreid cranberries are added afterwards or almonds.

...and while I wait I read something old and something new.

So, here is my favorite way to study the gospel I believe in.

I love the words of the leaders of the church. I love how the scriptures are woven in and how they relate personally to me. So, I pick a talk...usually from general conference or one that has a specific topic or question to be answered and I begin to read. I highlight and I look for the little numbers indicating footnotes and scriptures I can turn to and get excited. Then I like to combine the old scripture wisdom with the new knowledge of our prophets by writing their words, as they pertain to the scriptures, in the margins. When I go back I can see what the promises and blessings are from living that gospel principle and I get to remember why I felt prompted to add that to my Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 31:20
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Taking the time to be still and to be quiet is important. Our lives are so busy and usually so noisy that we forget to listen to our hearts. After reading and being filled this morning I have a new desire to seek out those quiet moments and then act on what I feel is right.

When I take the time to start my day out right and be receptive and open to those special personal promptings I feel good, I feel okay with things that don't seem to go my way and I have a better perspective on life and being a mommy. I hope that your mornings are filled with warm tummies and full hearts.