Princess Leia Beanie

Here is the Princess Leia beanie! If I wanted to make it super nice and had tons of time, I would do it all in single crochet....but it's all done in double because I thought I needed it done by Wednesday. To make the buns I just crochet a long line (like a mini scarf), sewed it into a tube and stuffed it with polyfil.

I made these amazing tasting Pumpkin Apple Strudel muffins that I brought into Craig's work. I ended up making them into mini muffins because it would be faster, and I think they are cute that way :)

BUT, I didn't notice Ethan had swiped my bottle of cinnamon from the counter. I thought he was just playing with his toys over there...but nope, it was the cinnamon. This is the aftermath:

This was just in the living room. It was also all over the hallway leading to the kitchen...and you can see some of it on the corner of our leather ottoman. He was covered in cinnamon and had orange feet, but at least our house smells good! I'm in the process of trying to get the orange color out of the carpet though :(

Menu Plan

I LOVE that it's finally feeling cool outside! No more 90 degree heat, woohoo! Last night was the Halloween carnival downtown and we were planning on going, but by the time Craig got home from work there was only a half hour left of it :( I would of just taken Ethan myself, but by the end of the day my back is killing me and I have bad sciatica....yay for pregnancy. Ah well, there is a Halloween celebration at Superfranks on Friday, and on Saturday there is something at the Great Mall...so we can take Ethan to either of those hopefully.

I also finished my Princess Leia beanie on Tuesday, I'll take some pictures and put them up ASAP. It's FAR from perfect because I was in a hurry (for the carnival lol) so I used double crochet on the bun part, but I really should of used single crochet because you can see some stuffing showing through....and the whole thing is just a tad to big. But I still like it :)

Here was our menu for the week:

Monday:
Sloppy Joes using plain 'ol manwich because I accidentally opened the can on Sunday instead of the chili can. Oops. Along with corn on the cobb.

Tuesday:
Some leftover frozen BBQ beef that I had frozen and thawed. It was just a pulled pork recipe I added some Sweet Baby Ray's to.

Wednesday:
Slow Cooker Spinach Pesto Lasagna. SO GOOD! I wasn't sure how lasagna would be in the slow cooker, but it was excellent. I've been trying to do one meatless dish a week to save up some money, and this is perfect...both Craig and Ethan loved it!

Thursday:
Leftover lasagna.

Friday:
Cinnamon Roasted Chicken with Pumpkin Sage Grits. I've never made this but I've had the recipe for a long time and it looks nice and fall-ish :) I don't think any of us have had grits though!

Saturday:
Slow Cooker Orange Teriyaki Chicken. I'll probably make this early on in the day to much on this weekend. This might change though, I hate to make a big amount of food when I have dinner planned the next day. I might do Rachael Ray's Pumpkin Penne instead, we'll see.

Sunday, Halloween!:
Pumpkin Chili (variations on this recipe)
Cranberry Cornbread
I'll probably make other Halloween themed treats today too :)

Dinner Review and Updates

Dinner last night was slow cooker chicken cordon bleu, and it was a big hit woohoo! I like when slow cooker things are a hit, it's so easy lol. The only thing I did differently was sprinkle pepper, garlic and rosemary on top of the chicken before I poured the soup on. Craig requested that this goes in our "rotation", and Ethan ate a bunch of it! Ethan also ate a bunch of the broccoli and cheese which surprised me though.

I received a sample in the mail of Quaker's Life Cinnamon Roll Raisin Pecan bar from Walmart, and I just ate the for breakfast (I'm sure I'll have a second breakfast in about 2 hours or so haha) and it was good! I was worried that it was going to be to super sweet, but it was just lightly sweetened and the cinnamon flavor really stood out. Only 150 calories so not bad at all.

I've got the beanie part done of my Leia beanie and I'm about half way through the first bun, that is if the technique I'm doing to create it actually works lol. I've never seen a crochet Leia beanie pattern so I'm just making one up for Halloween. I figure I'll just wear a white tee and some jeans and be done with it....I need comfy since I'll be almost 36 weeks pregnant :P

For the past week I've been wanting to change my polish color to China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-Y for Halloween, but I'm dreading/procrastinating taking off Zombie Zest....I'm worried since it's a glitter it will take forever, and it's so hard to reach my feet now a days! Maybe we can see if we can squeeze in a pedi somewhere, but who knows....I hate checking the bank to see how the money is going lol.

The Friday before Halloween I'm going to take Ethan into Craig's work in his costume, and I'll probably make some candy corn Halloween bark to bring in since I have a bag of candy corn because I wasen't able to get around to my candy corn wreath. I'm not complaining though, I filled up my crafting time with Etsy orders! :) I LOVE the way candy corn looks, it's so festive....but I just cannot get into the taste. I really wish I could because I enjoy looking at it lol, but I guess it's better for the waist that way!

Meatloaf

I know everyone has a meatloaf recipe, but I made this one last night (based on Pioneer Woman's of course) and it was so good! I only use 1lb of meat because 2lbs just makes way to much, we always have leftovers with 1lb, so it's hard to find recipes that we can use.

Meatloaf:

1 lb ground beef
1 diced onion
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp dry mustard
Black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp seasoned salt - I used Lawry's
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tbs worcestershire
1/2 cup ketchup
6 strips bacon
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry seasoned breadcrumbs
1/3 cup oatmeal


You can use all breadcrumbs or all oatmeal if you'd like, but I like the flavor and texture of both together.

Sauce:

1 tbs spicy brown mustard
1/3 cup bbq sauce
1 tbs brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the ground beef, parmesan, seasoned salt, black pepper, parsley, onion, dry mustard, worcestershire, ketchup, eggs, breadcrumbs and oatmeal into a large mixing bowl. Mix with your hands, it's easiest....even if it is messiest.

Place loaf shape on a broiler pan, adding foil to the bottom for easy cleanup.

In another bowl, add brown mustard, bbq sauce and brown sugar and stir to combine. Pour over top of loaf.

Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.

Bake for 1 hour.

I served it with corn on the cobb (Ethan's favorite!), and these Green Giant Roasted Red Potatoes, Green Beans & Rosemary Butter Sauce, which was so good!

Brobee Beanie Pattern!

New pattern available in my shop, the Brobee beanie! Brobee is a green monster from Yo Gabba Gabba who has crazy arms and gets kids to eat with a song called "Party in my Tummy".

Basically, he's the best character :P

Get it here!

Cupcake wreath and cupcake beanie!

Here is another custom cupcake beanie! Chocolate cake, lavender frosting and multi colored sprinkles, although it was hard to capture the sprinkle colors in that light.

 

I'm also working on creating custom wreaths with custom appliques. Here is a cupcake one for my kitchen, but I think a felt cupcake applique would look better! You'd be able to pick the colors and whatever type of applique you'd want (cupcake, hearts, flowers etc). I think it's pretty fun :)

I made this monster wreath back in 2006, and I know it's a terrible picture...but it's Halloween decor! I'll have to see about getting a better picture :) All I did was cut 2 circles out of fun fur, cut slits in it for the eyes....and I hot glued it all together and stuffed it with plastic grocery bags.

Need Coffee!

That quesadilla casserole I made last night was sooooo good! Even Ethan liked it, and he's super picky! The only thing I did differently was I added a can of refried beans into the mashed bean mixture, added cheddar along with the jack cheese....and topped the servings with sour cream and salsa. Mmmm, I'm glad we have leftovers for lunch today.

I discovered a new craft that I want to make the boys....a quiet book! They are all over the internet, and I'm just discovering them this morning lol. They look incredibly time consuming, but I bet Ethan would love it. I was thinking I'd make him a Christmas themed one, but I'm not sure I'll have time with all the gifts I've planned to make them.

I'm really hoping that Kohls will still have this Halloween Cupcake Cookie Jar after Halloween! I wanted to wait until it was super cheap, but I might pick it up since there was only 2 left last time I was there. 

I need some coffee before I can continue life, brb.

Crochet Christmas Gift Ideas

I've barely posted lately because this third trimester is wearing me out! It wasn't this bad with Ethan, but I could nap whenever I wanted to then....now I have an 18 month old to take care of :)

Since money is tight this year, I'll be making a lot of Christmas gifts for the boys. So far I plan on making these:
- 3 crochet lightsabers (1 for Craig, he'd kill me if I didn't make him one too haha)
- Gigi Giraf. I've started this one for Zac but it's on hold until I finish up 1 more project
- Desmond the Moose for Ethan, this designer has such awesome patterns
- Some textured/colorful stuffed crochet blocks for Zac
- Some felt/crochet play food for both

That's just what I have on my list now, I'm hoping that's do-able lol. I have a bunch more I'd like to make...but I'm trying to be realistic since I'll have a newborn soon :D

I also plan on getting us some nice stockings since ours are from Dollar Tree, but Craig wants me to crochet some. I'd love to, but I don't have time to do everything I want to already haha. Target usually has pretty cute stockings though, I cant wait until all their Christmas stuff is out!


Meal plan for the week:

Monday:
Garlic Chicken, corn on the cobb and rice pilaf

Tuesday:
Quesadilla Casserole
This probably will have leftovers, so it will screw up my weeks plan lol

Wednesday:
Slow Cooker A-1 and Dijon Steak
Mashed potatoes
corn on the cobb

Thursday:
Meatloaf
Broccoli and Cheese
Garlic Toast

Friday/Sat:
Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna

Sunday:
Zippy Orange BBQ Chicken Pockets, I haven't decided what to serve these with yet though!

Super Awesome Iced Mocha

So I discovered Burger King's Iced Mocha's....they are so good! But they are like $2.50 each and with a new baby coming that just seems like such a waste of money, so I made up my own. It's not an exact replica, but it's tasty :)

Iced Mocha

- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons chocolate milk mix (I use Quick, but something like Ovaltine is probably healthier)
- 2 tsp Splenda
- 2 tsp instant coffee powder
- Half cup water (optional) but I my iced coffee a little thinner
- Ice cubes

Just pour everything but the ice into a nice big glass and stir stir stir until it all dissolves. Add the ice and a straw and be happy that you didn't have to leave the house, or spend $2.50 :)

Pumpkin patch this weekend!

We are taking Ethan to the pumpkin patch for this first time this weekend! Hopefully today, but who knows since Craig works today. I cant wait to get pictures! I am planning on getting a cute shot with a pumpkin and printing it out to send to family as a Halloween card, but we'll see if Ethan feels like cooperating :)

I have some projects that I'm almost done with that I'll be posting this next week, and I'm hoping one of them will be either a candy corn wreath or candy corn garland....if I can get around to it between my Etsy orders. I cant believe the baby will be here next month!! I'm so excited to meet him, and I'm excited to not be pregnant anymore LOL. As much as I love feeling the baby move, I cant wait to get my body back. I got pregnant in 2008 with Ethan, had him in 2009....breastfed him until May 2010, and by then I was already pregnant with this one. So I'm kind of excited to be done being pregnant and nursing for a little while, just be back to myself :) That is until baby #3!

I went to Sally's to pick up China Glaze nail polish in Ick-a-body to wear as a Halloween pedi, but all the polish was on sale for like $3.29 so I ended up picking up the other 2 colors of the Awakening collection! I'm really loving Zombie Zest, and normally I'm not a fan of greens. I might even do a Zombie Zest mani this weekend since it's so awesome.

Meal Plan for the week:

Saturday:
Ground Beef Stroganoff and green beans

Sunday:
Grilled burgers and fries

Monday:
I'll be at my parents house for my Mom's birthday so it's crockpot day!
Chicken Enchilada Chili that I will add in some corn, cheese and sour cream

Tuesday:
Leftover chili! Maybe with some cornbread or something too.

Wednesday:
Pork Apple Potato Saute

Thursday:
Penne with Ricotta and Bacon

Friday and Saturday (leftovers on Saturday):
The infamous "Goop" which is just 2 cans baked beans, 1 can corn, 3 tbs bbq sauce, 2 tbs spicy brown mustard (or Dijon if I have it), 2 tbs worcestershire and some salt and pepper. Topped with a dollop of sour cream!