update to things...

I was putting comments under the original post after trying them... but I was worried no one would see them.. soo.. heres an update.

The garden goddess cake is divinely wonderful. ...when they tell you to put the wax paper in the bottom.. its a good idea.. listen to them. This was a trial run, so I didn't feel teh need lol. For Sierra;s birthday cake I will be sure to! I have a pic to add at a future date.

Sierra liked the baby pancakes.. I think she'd have liked them better with a bit of fruit or spice to them, but thats ok.. I wanted to make sure she'd eat them first. It's a great way to use up baby cereal!

Plum salad... yummmmmmmmm. I didn't use enough plums... I only used 3 cuz I didn't realize it took 6 in the recipe. It was still really good. My only regret was not letting it sit for teh full 5 minutes.. its one of those recipes where the longer it sits in the dressing, the better it tastes!

baby pancakes

I got a recipe from a friend for these and I definetely want to try them for Sierra!!

Baby pancakes, not just small but made with baby cereal.

Baby Cereal Pancakes Recipe -

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup baby barley cereal (or other baby cereal)
1 cup formula (or another liquid such as milk)
1/2 cup mashed banana (or fruit of your choice)optional
1 tbsp melted margarine or butter (unsalted type)or1 tbs flax seed
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup baby oatmeal
apple juice (about 1/2 cup) or water

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of vanilla or other flavorings if you wish.

Mix all ingredients together and add enough juice to make pancake consistency. Cook on cook top in frying pan as with "regular" pancakes.

**Freezes Well**

makes 40 minis,

plum salad

I got this recipe from my friend Erin and it just sounds really good, I will be trying it tomorrow probably for lunch, or as a side salad with dinner since I know it will never fill Randal up as a main course. (she got it from a recipe group she subscribes too.. but now for the life of my I don't remember the name of it.

Whisk 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice with 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Slice 6 plums into thin wedges and mix with the lemon juice and olive oil. Let stand for 5 min. Then add 5 ounces of mixed greens (she used a "spring mix") and 1/2 cup Parm. cheese and toss.

I will let you know what we think of it later :)

not *quite* right.. but a finished project

I tried to make the crinkle square, but quickly realized I didn't have much of anything that I needed for the real pattern. So.. I improvised.. its more of a ....crinkle...pillow lol.
Things were moving along fairly well in the beginning.. I was starting to get the feel for the sewing machine.. it was the first time I'd pulled it out of the box since my mom bought it for me...many moons ago. Then on the third one, I forgot to hold the strings, and the machine came unthreaded.. I thought I knew what I was doing, and tried again.. nope.. tangled mess. I tried many more times to get the machine to work, but nothing was working that night. I conceded and started hand sewing. You could really tell when I was paying attention to what I was doing and when I was distracted with the UFC fights lol.
I ended up using flannel scraps from 2 different pair of boxers that had saw better days, and "made" ribbons out of miscellaneous scrap material. I stuffed the inside with abotu 10 plastic bags, and since I didn't measure out a 6 inch square, it was more like a rectangle.. hence... my crinkle pillow lol. Sierra likes stomping on it to make noise.. most of the time when I try to offer it to her she's too tired to want to mess with it. I will have to try again when she is more awake.

On a bright note, I figured out I didn't rethread the top part of the machine correctly, and it now works again :) ahhhhh the satisfaction of doing something you didn't think you could. I think I will try the real pattern when mom is visiting. :)

keeping teh lil ones happy too!

I was just recently introduced to Joy's Hope... you can find her blog in the list of people I follow. She has some great ideas! I decided I am going to do this one...

http://www.joyshope.com/2009/05/baby-crinkle-square-tutorial.html

..I need to find my fabric and sewing machine in teh storage across the hall...and sadly I don't think I have any ribbon, but I will look around. I may add a bit to this and see what I can do, because you can add other fabrics to make it even more stimulating for the child with different textures.

Birthday blues...of sorts

So, Sierra turns a year old next month, and since I'm starting to do stuff by scratch and pretty much as healthy as humanly possible, this posed a wee bit of a problem when it came to trying to find a birthday cake recipe. Everyone and their brother wants to give you recipes with "diet" junk in them.. artificial sweetners (or killers...depending on your point of view). Finally one of my friends suggested an internet search of organic cakes... of course.. its so simple.. DUH! I now have several recipes to run a trial run on because I'm not gonna let my baby have a gross cake for such a special day. The first cake I am gonna try is this one:

http://www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/single-view/recipe/garden-goddess-cake

...it just sounds incredibly good. Admittedly I won't be doing the organic parts more than likely but maybe in the future. I will let you know how it turns out. I'll even take a pic so you can see what it looks like. I hope its as good as it sounds!

cloth diapers

It is so easy to make your own AIO diaper!Take a disposable Diaper and trace it out. Whatever size your child is in is fine. YOu can fold it in half and cut it in half and make the diapers longer.You will need three kinds of fabric from the fabric store.1. 1/2 yard of fleece 100% polyester2. 1/2 yard of mico fleece 100% polyester3. 1 yard of flannel 100% cotton4. 2 ft of velcro5. 2 ft of 1/4 inch elasticThis will make about 3 diapers. 1.Cut out all three types of fabric. Cut a long rectangle out of the flannel. Fold up the rectangle for the soaker pad and sew it on the flannel.2. Sew all three together like a sandwich FLEECE-FLANNEL-MICROFLEECE. The Microfleece goes next to the baby's skin and pulls moisture away. The heavy duty fleece stays on the outside keeps clothes dry, flannel on the inside is what soaks up the wet.3. Sew elastic on the whole back side and the leg portions make sure you put it all the way from top to bottom of the leg.4. Sew velcro on the belly portion and the ends of the back portion. (just like on a disposable diaper)waalaaa you have an AIO diaper

homemade laundry detergent

So you all want to know how to make homemade laundry detergent! Well first you will need a couple of things.Some old laundry detergent bottlesA five gallon bucket from home depot or some placea box of Borax form target or Walmarta box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, NOT Baking Soda!!!a bar of soap like Ivory, Lever, or Dove! it all works!!!Now you can make Homemade Laundry SoapGrate 1 bar Ivory or other type of soap like you would cheese1 cup washing soda 1 cup borax powder Put the grated soap in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 1 gallon hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now fill the five gallon bucket up almost 3 1/2 more gallons, and stir it up. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load. Seriosly this stuff ROCKS the stains... YOu can leave it in the 5 gallon bucket with a lid if you want or pour it into old detergent bottles.. Or fill up on old bottle use, refill etc...waa llaaaaaaa 5 gallons of laundry detergent for $2.50. Now that is awesome.

another user said...
I've been making my own detergent for over 10 years. I can't ever imagine going back to storebought. When i make it though, I use Fels Naptha and just super washing soda, no Borax.

getting started

So I have recently decided I wanted to get back to basics...this means cooking more healthy, making my own stuff more often, etc. As I run across patterns, recipes, tips, etc.. this is where I will be putting them.

I know I'm certainly not the only person, and definetely not the first of my friends to do more of this type of stuff. In many ways, its my friends who inspired me to do this. Alicia, and Kristen are the two most prominent that I have to thank for my decision to do this.

Just like my Wyoming adventure logs.. this won't have anything in it that doesn't revolve around the topic of getting back to basics. If there is a story about Sierra or life that fits here, you will find it, otherwise, nope..

Hopefully you find this blog helpful!
Missy