Letting You In, part 1

I started this blog to help me see through the cloudy chaos that my life has become. I have a strong feeling that I am not the only person dealing with these struggles. BUT…. right now, it just looks like a chaotic blog. I have to-dos, goals, cleaning, mommy-hood, crafts, and of course cooking. Well, this is me right now- a big jumble.

That’s my problem though, I have neglected to share much about myself. You see its hard, opening myself up. I even have a hard time letting those close to me in. Of course its bad, but sometimes it seems better for everyone involved if I just bottle everything up and deal internally. This is a problem area of mine that I am committing myself to work on- sharing me. No matter how scared I am. Here goes (a little):

My life changed so much in just over two years time; most of it occurring in two months time.
I was working as a teller at a bank. I was good at my job. In fact, I was even told that I had a chance to be a supervisor in the near future. Sounds great, right? Nope. I was very unhappy and unfulfilled.
My soon-to-be husband had been prodding me to go into nursing, something that had been a part of my inner debates for a while. I decided to ‘get my feet wet’ before I took the plunge. I signed up for a two week Nurse Aide Certification class. After completion, I had a good feeling that this was the direction God wanted me to go in. So I registered for the few classes I needed for validation into nursing clinicals, put in my notice at the bank, and cashed in my 401K.

To be continued…..

Pink Cheetah Baby Shower Gifts

There’s a new baby on the way! It’s a girl. We don’t get many girls in this family. So of course, I have been crafting up a storm.
The color/theme is pink cheetah. I found this fabric at JoAnn’s, and used brown flannel as a compliment. We know her name, so that made these gifts really fun!
The first thing I made was a blanket. This blanket is about a yard widthwise, and lengthwise.

For this blanket I used this tutorial from A Feathered Nest.
Next I made my specialties; bib, burp cloth, and onesie.

I tried a new pattern:

This pattern is the Snuggler from Simple Sewing for Baby. (I’m not getting paid for this- just wanted to let you know where the pattern came from.)
Next up was some yarn work (fulfilling my crochet kick).

The hat on the left was made using this pattern (with some adjustments for 0-3 month size), the headband from here, and the hat on the right from this pattern.
Everything got the addition of handmade tags, including care instructions. I love giving handmade gifts! What are your favorite baby gifts to give?

Participating in these parties: TOO Cute Tuesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday

Elmo Hat

This has been a busy week. I have been working on gifts for a baby shower on Sunday. (I’ll post pictures of them as soon as they are done.)
I have also been on a crochet roll! Our nephew turned one this week. He was having an Elmo birthday. I have been coming across some adorable Sesame Street hats on Pinterest that I wanted to try. This was the perfect opportunity.

I wish I could give you a pattern that I used, but I can’t. I looked at a few, read a few, then just went with my gut.
It gets cold here in the winter. So I tend to prefer half double crochet to double crochet when making child-sized hats. The tighter stitch makes for a warmer hat (and I think dc looks girly sometimes).
Here’s what I did:
Crochet earflap hat in appropriate size. I used hdc. There are many sizing charts online if your recipient is not available to measure.
Crochet two white balls, and an oval orange ball. (YouTube is a great reference.)
Make pupils, and stitch onto eyes. Stitch eyes and nose onto hat.
Cut mouth out of felt, and sew on.
Finished.
This hat went extremely fast. Actually all of my crocheting has gone by fast lately. The only downside to my projects this last week is that I had to buy specific materials for them, so I haven’t been using up my stash…this week. I’m okay with this though.
Stop back tomorrow to see the baby shower gifts!

Vikings

Did you dress little ones up and go begging for candy? We did! Halloween is a big deal around here. My mother-in-law comes over and hands out candy. Hubby’s brother brings his family over. We go showing off our kids to the neighborhood.
Last year, we even put my expecting sister-in-law in labor. (Story for another day…)
Needless to say, we love Halloween.
This year the twins were Vikings. They were oh so CUTE! (Even though they didn’t keep their helmets on.)

I’m sure you all have seen Cheri’s Viking tutorial over at I am Momma. Well, this is where my inspiration came from.
She uses toilet seat covers (genius!). The hubs wasn’t too thrilled with that idea, he felt it would look like carpet and nobody would be able to tell what they were. He wanted authentic-looking Vikings. After all he was a Viking fan for a year…Favre fan.
So I took him to JoAnn's, and had him pick out some fur. We also bought some leather cord, and ordered our Viking helmets from Amazon. That’s it.
The fur was cut into two oval (like a toilet seat cover) shapes, and four rectangles. Then I cut a slit, and a circle for the head of the ovals. Fasten it on your little Viking. Wrap the rectangle around their boots, and wrap with leather lace. Take pictures, and head out on the town. So simple, yet so cute.

What was your favorite costume this year?

Linked up here.

Happy Halloween, I’m Back!

I’m not going to write a long post apologizing for being absent in the blogging world.
It’s simple. I was spending too much time on my laptop, and not getting things done. I had to ‘unplug’ (although not a full unplug…). I was feeling overwhelmed with everything I wanted to get done, and the reality of what wasn’t getting done.
Good news- things are getting done! I have been “crafting away” my stash slowly but surely, finding egg-free meals for my allergic toddlers, settling into a cleaning routine, spending time with family, and much, much more!
Here’s to new beginnings!

(These hats were crocheted using Jack and Mr. Boo patterns from achickwsticks.com. (Personal mods on both.)
Happy Halloween!

Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I found this recipe at Don't Waste The Crumbs before we knew we had an egg allergy in the house. Let me tell you, these muffins are awesome. I am not very good at eating breakfast, when these were in the freezer- I had breakfast almost everyday until they were gone. They are that good!

They are also better in the nutrition department. Tiffany uses oat flour. She shows you how to make your own. Don't panic, its easy.

If you don't have an egg allergy in the house go try her recipe.

There are many (too many) substitutes for eggs. A common one for baking is apple sauce. Sometimes it works, sometimes your baked goods taste like crap. I was a little tired of having one out of three baking recipes tasting good, so I did not use applesauce this time.

For this recipe I tried the flax seed route. I'm not sure why, but I have been intimidated by flax seed. What is this stuff? I had the fear that everything would taste cardboard healthy.

I figured that since the muffins taste great with oat flour (not cardboard healthy), I should try ground flax seed as an egg substitute.

Its easy. First mix your egg substitute. 1 Tablespoon of ground flax seed and 3 Tablespoons of water for each egg. Mix it up. Let it sit for two to five minutes. While it is sitting I get out the rest of the ingredients. Then I start mixing, adding the flax seed mixture where the eggs are needed.

This recipe makes 18 muffins. Since I was making them for the littles, I made some mini-muffins. The recipe made 24 mini-muffins, and 9 regular muffins.

That's mama muffin, with her twin little muffins. (Maybe I need a nap.)

I let them cool completely, then put in a freezer bag and freeze. When we want a muffin, we pop one out and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds for a large muffin, and 15 for a mini-muffin.

The verdict:
These are wonderful! This is going to be an egg-free go-to favorite! My wheels are spinning. Maybe I could add cocoa powder, make them double chocolate. Maybe I could use zucchini instead of bananas. What about apples...

Have you discovered any egg-free secrets? I would love to hear them all!

Family Favorite Peanut Butter Pie

Are you busy?

Me too. Most of my cooking and baking as of late seems to be quick, easy, and cheap. On top of that, I am trying to become more educated and accomplished at egg-free cooking.

Want a yummy, quick, egg-free desert that your family will request over and over again? Try this peanut butter pie. (I found this recipe online a couple years back, and unfortunately didn't write down the source.)

The ingredient list is simple, I almost always have everything in my pantry or freezer.

Are you ready?

Peanut Butter Pie

1 graham cracker crust (I use chocolate)
1/2 cup peanut butter (usually I use crunchy, this time I used creamy so the twins could have some)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 block of cream cheese (4 ounces), softened
1 8 ounce tub of whipped topping (like Cool-Whip), thawed
handful of crushed chocolate chips (optional, I run mine through the food processor)


Combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, and cream cheese. Beat until creamy and well combined. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into crust. Top with crushed chocolate chips. Freeze for at least 12 hours. Slice up and serve.

I will not judge if you refrain from letting your family know what's in the freezer....

Linking up here.