Robbin's Nest Boutique

As I mentioned in my previous post, I love buying from small businesses, and from friends and family.  Robbin is a family member who makes bows and all sorts of crotched items which are so cute.

I know you can buy 4th of July bows from the dollar section at Target, but they're massed produced, poor quality and not made with love.  That's the best part of handmade things I think. 

So here is a picture of Mia in a 3inch Red, White and Blue Bow.  How cute is that!!

Buy yours here: Robbin's Nest Boutique

Mia was so happy when the package arrived. And I can't wait to dress her up in her patriotic clothes and looking so cute!

And for the record, I have Bows that Robbin made 3 years ago and they still look as good as new. 

Monograms and Letters

I love small businesses and try to support as many as I can, especially when it comes to family.  My sister-in-law, Jennifer Deck, just happens to be a super talented crafter made this after I asked her to make one for a very close friend of mine who just happens to have a daughter who is about to turn one.

This friend loves pink, and I'm pretty sure that she will love this and it will look so pretty in her daughters room. It couldn't be more perfect.  

She has also made letters for my daughter, a cork board for my son, and many many other things.  Please visit her Etsy Store - Jennys Letters

Engineer Print

My dear friend Ina showed me this pin yesterday. Normally I would ignore a pin like this because I think it looks amazing, but also impossible.  But this is such a great idea, very cheap and the results are amazing (although I still need to perfect it.)

Here are the two original pins: Photo booth Art and Giant Family Photo

The picture I used was taken by Lori Barbely (www.loribarbelyphotography.com) who I first met four years ago when she did an Operation Love Reunited shoot for us.  We loved her so much that we did another photo shoot about a year and a half ago in Orlando. This photo is about the funniest outtake ever, and perfectly captures Mia, Grammy and Mikey's personality's. 

Anyway, I took a CD (or a memory stick is fine too) into Staples and got an Engineer Print.  I chose an 18 x 24, but the largest they do is 3' x 4'.  Huge! It cost me a whole $1.91.  I really broke the bank there.  Make sure the photo is high quality - don't pull a picture off Facebook and expect it look great.

A.C. Moore just happened to be right next door to Staples, and the just happened to have 50% off canvas's, so I picked up a canvas, spray adhesive and Mod Podge. Including military discount that totalled to just under $20 and I have plenty to make many more crafts.

I sprayed a line of adhesive down the middle to make sure it was all centered, and then spraying about a quarter of the canvas at a time, then used a credit card to smooth the paper down and make sure there was no bubbles. For a larger print you'll probably need some help.  I've also seen that some people use a rolling pin to smooth it down.

The print has a white edge so I just used black paint and filled in the white.

After the paint dried, I put a layer of Mod Podge over top.  As you can see, it really wrinkled up. I was about to freak out, but reading the link above when she mounted her pictures to foam, she explained that hers did the same thing and it had to do with the temperature in the room and the foam, or in my case the canvas expanding.

*I just read an article on eHow which might help the wrinkling situation:
 Cover your work space with heavy paper or wax paper so you can brush the Mod Podge on freely and not worry about making a mess. Spray your picture lightly with water or an acrylic sealer on one side to prevent wrinkling and bubbling. Be careful -- you don't want it the picture to be too wet; blot it with a cloth or paper towel if this happens. Apply the Mod Podge to your chosen surface with a brush. It dries fast, so work quickly. Position the picture where you want it, using the brayer to flatten the image and remove air bubbles and wrinkles.

How to Mod Podge Pictures - eHow

 Here's the finished result.  It's still wrinkled a little, but not to the point that I really care.  I'll definitely be making something like this again, but using a different surface to mount it on - perhaps wood next time.  I'll be needing to purchase a saw....

But I really do love it, and for an hours work it looks pretty good.

Recently a few things have happened or been said to me that have got me pondering. My Mother-in-law pointed out to me how good my kids are after watching other kids pull out every toy and being talking tornadoes in her house.  They don't do that [often] and if they do they will clean it up.  And today as I was vacuuming, I asked Mikey to pick up his room so I could vacuum in there, and without me asking, he cleaned up his sisters room  without me saying anything so that I could clean her room too.  Now, there's probably some ulterior motive there involving the Wii but for the moment I'll sit back and be grateful, impressed slightly amused.

It dawned on me that since Mikey has been alive, we've been through 3 deployments, and countless months of Jeremy being gone at school or business.  And we've had it easy compared to some families.  Jeremy's been home 1 year right now, and has only gone away about an additional 4 weeks.  Not too shabby!

Mikey has always been a good kid, and very laid back unlike his sister who is the sweetest firecracker you'll ever meet who keeps me on my toes for sure.  They're in no way Saints, and I'm in no way the perfect Mom.  But I have always been strict about them cleaning up after themselves - if they don't the toy disappears for a while.  And I've always made sure that we help each other out. And for the most part they do clean up when I ask.  Sometimes I get whining and eye rolls, but they mostly do it without a lot of pushing from me.

But anyway, I have heard so many spouses whine about their kids and how its so hard to keep a clean house because their kids make a mess, their husband isn't home to help, ...yadda yadda yadda....I've been there when I'm at my wits end and I'm simply too tired to clean.  But the next day I'll be better and I clean up quickly. I have to ask for help sometimes and that's OK. But instead of complaining, the kids and I have always been a team, and I've always been forced to be strict on some issues like picking up their room. 

I see it as a blessing. I'm not a single Mom, I don't have family near by, but yet these continual separations and deployments have molded myself and my children into better people. I've learned to be strong, capable and to realize it's OK to sit back sometimes and not be perfect.  And that it's better to cry in the shower - it keeps your nasal passages from blocking up.  And I'm so proud of my kids for being as wonderful as they are.

Twice Baked Cauliflower...oh yeah!!

So anyone who knows me, knows how much I love cauliflower so I will do anything to try a new and wonderful way to eat it. And this really didn't disappoint.

I can't remember the last time I ate a twice baked potato - yummy but it just seems like a lot of effort for a potato.  Delicious, but too much work for a lazy ass like me.  But when I saw twice baked cauliflower I was in heaven.

Here's the link: Twice Baked Cauliflower

I boiled the cauliflower; chopped up and fried about 6 rashers of bacon and chopped up half and onion.  I threw the cooked cauliflower into the food processor (this is because I don't actually own a masher), then stirred in the bacon and onion into the mix, then added about two spoonfuls of sour cream, and handful of cheese, mixed it up and threw it into the oven towards just before the pork roast we were having was almost done.

Now, the recipe called for non-fat sour cream and cheese, and I just don't do non-fat, low-fat, sugar-free etc.  I don't want to know what they do to those products to make them non-fat, and surprisingly my stomach treats me much kinder since I switched to whole milk.  So it's not the lowest in calorie, but cauliflower is much lower on the glycemic index than potato, and I really didn't use a lot of cheese and sour cream. 

I can say that I absolutely didn't care that it wasn't potato.  It tasted divine, and my husband loved it as well.  My kids liked it too, but it's been almost impossible to get them to eat any dinner lately.  I don't know what's up with that.

Brown Gravy Success

I love brown gravy.  It's very high up there on my favorite foods list.  In fact, the year I met my husband in Korea, he asked what I wanted for Christmas, and knew that I wasn't joking when I said I wanted Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.  Being in Korea that wasn't easy to find, but he got me a GIANT bag of both which may or may not have been pilfered from the DFAC.  Such a happy Christmas - Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and a proposal.

Anyhow, I'm trying to get away from package mixes, and I had a craving for Salisbury Steak.  You need gravy for that but I would either have to go to the store to buy the packet, or I would need to make it myself.  So I made it, and let me tell you I was pleasantly surprised.  I saw several variations, and chose this one which uses flour. (I won't use nonfat milk powder, and I don't like corn starch).

Dry Brown Gravy Mix

This is such an easy recipe.  I did have to buy Bayleaves, Celery Seeds and the Beef Granules, but it was all relatively inexpensive to buy.  All you needed to do was to put the ingredients sans flour into a food processor, then add it to flour and put it in an air tight jar.  To make the gravy you just needed to take 1/4 C of the mix and wisk it into 2 cups of water and heat it until it thickens.

It really tasted and smelled great and not too different from that deliciousness that you usually get in a packet.

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

Believe it or not, I've never tried to make my own Alfredo Sauce.  My SIL works for Olive Garden, so we often go there and dip our bread sticks in Alfredo...mmm...but I just can't eat an entire dish of Alfredo.  It might just have something to do with being Lactose Intolerant.  But since I'm not really eating pasta right now, I decided to try this out on my kids.  And maybe I had just a little just to try....

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

Let me tell you.  My daughter hardly ever eats dinner, but she munched down on this like she had never eaten in her life.  You know the look of babies when they finally get that bottle of milk....that was Mia. Not only was it easy, cheap and quick, it really was tasty.

Now, when I added the cream cheese I thought it was going to be a disaster.  Besides splashing butter all over my arm and the counter (I really am an intelligent person, even though I make some stupid mistakes), it looked liked it was curdling.  But as soon as I added the milk, it came together nice and smoothly.  I used the canned Parmesan cheese, but I'm sure it would be great with grated cheese.  I also didn't measure any ingredients which probably doesn't come as a shock to you all, and I added until it was how I liked it.

I'll definitely be making it again.  It's so hard to get something that both my kids love, and served with baked salmon I'd say it's close to perfection!