No Cereal in Cupboard? Granola from Scratch.. Plus- Our Tomato seeds have finally sprouted!

Now that I figured out how to make blog posts on my phone I can make content while I nurse my baby. But he’s super interactive with hands flailing the whole time. We will see if I can complete this post.

I’d like to blog 2-3 times each week if I could find the time– but for now, I’m staying committed to my 1x per week at least– no matter how bad or weird it is. Blogging is as much about getting into the groove as it is about the content.

To preface this post I’d like to be clear that I never really follow recipes, so I apologise for not being very decisive with the instructions. I just can’t get myself to do it– I feel like I’m locked in a straight jacket. Plus, l always learn something memorable when I make a mistake.

Today I woke up to find our 1 cereal box was almost empty. While disappointing, it wasn’t tragic.

I realized that I had a variety of on-hand items that might be concocted into granola.

Things like: oatmeal, shaved coconut, pecans, walnuts, dark chocolate, flax seed meal and wheat germ. Honestly, these were all I had. My raisins had been depleted a couple weeks ago and I didn’t have any dried cranberries or pumpkin seeds that so many recipes suggest. Oh well. I had enough items to make it work. A practical point in being creative, for me, is figuring out strategies to use what l already have– for as little money (and as few trips to the store) as possible.

The main thing you need to make granola is oatmeal. I found some random items here:

Recipe:

3 cups oatmeal

chopped walnuts (3/4 cup more or less)

chopped pecans (3/4 cup more or less)

Coconut flakes (I used 1/2 to 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup wheat germ

Brown sugar (to your preference)

Broken up dark chocolate bar (or chips or whatever you have)

Dollop of honey

Splash of vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

300 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes? Or whatever. Just don’t burn it.

Mix everything up:

Spread on cookie sheet:

And store your freshly baked granola in an airtight container.

It tasted delicious! Now to store by in the pantry. 😀

In other good news? Guess what? Our tomato plants that we planted from seeds are finally growing! You probably remember this blog post: Greenhouse where we planted them.

Well here they are. Tiny tomato plants finally popping out of yogurt containers. They’re growing!

Why is (Regular) Blogging so Difficult?!?

Why is blogging regularly so difficult? It’s probably because many of us who are attracted to this hobby happen to be perfectionists in the first place.

We also tend to be a bit ostentatious at times– as we like to show off our stuff, thoughts, writing etc.. (What person would venture into such arena if they didn’t have a smigeon of this trait?). Your writings, expressions and pictures are going up public– for anyone to see– and you know that. Face it. You’re a bit of a show- off.

There’s nothing wrong with any of this. You need to be a bit showy to make this work. Embrace the “braggy” side of your blogging personality. This will help you in the long-run because without content, you just have a user name and password– and an empty blog.

It’s the “perfectionist” side of your personality that will be holding you back. You’ll want to express yourself but come to realize that’s it’s a bit weird, the ending is rough, your point wasn’t made, and the esthetics of your post are off-putting. That’s okay. You can’t please everyone. And apparently, not even yourself. So let go of the perfection-tendency and start writing and posting frequently.

We’ve all heard that it’s “quality content” that sets you apart and makes you stand out in Google’s search ranking. This is true. The point is to have something that is interesting enough so that people come back or view other posts on your blog. You’ve snagged someone then and Google seems to know. This is what “quality content” means.

Keep writing and pressing forward but most importantly, keep thinking. After all, it’s from these random thoughts that sprout throughout our days that provide the fodder for our blog posts.

MY ROBIN’S EASTER EGG CAKE! Welcome Spring! PAGAN PARTY FOR KIDS!?!? Plus– Spring Crafts

Fertility festivals are now being celebrated throughout the northern hemisphere so why not throw your own spring party?! I decided we should welcome spring. You know how that goes. This time I decided not to go “full pagan” but instead, decided to whip up a cake from scratch in the shape of an egg and throw a little tea party for the kids. Still too pagan for your religious preferences? Well next year we’ll be making cake crosses to celebrate Easter.
This cake was my first (decent) 100% scratch cake. We even made a couple crafts to celebrate the season.

Yes. I did try and make a cake from scratch before. Once. For my husband’s birthday. I told him I was going to make him a Sunshine cake. He thought it was a cute idea but was in for a terrible surprise. And it was a disgrace to mankind.

MY CAKE DISASTERPIECE of 2016. PICTURED HERE FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:

So, as you can tell, my cake baking skills have improved a bit. I’m just slightly proud of this little beauty– mostly because I thought up the idea, the colors and the name of this cake when I was playing around with the frosting color.

NOW HOW DID I DO THAT? Here are some pics (and I’ll post the link to the cake recipe below). What a fun way to usher in the springtime than a splash of Robin’s Egg blue on your Easter eggs–or, in this case, cake?

Once I baked the cake, I removed it from the pan and flipped it over (sometimes the top of the cake is caved in a bit or dimply). ALWAYS FLIP YOUR CAKE OVER IF YOU’RE AN INEXPERIENCED BAKER LIKE MYSELF. The bottom is just so perfectly flat and ideal for frosting. My cake looked like this: caramelly sweet, dense, moist and just delicious!

After the cake cooled, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit over night. NOW THAT IS THE TRICK TO FROSTING A CAKE! If you do this, you are much less likely to smear crumbles of the cake into your frosting during the frosting procedure. Do you know what I’m referring to?

Then I cut an egg shape out of “cereal box” cardboard to use as my template for cutting the cake. Yes, I salvage all my cereal box cardboard for a variety of uses 🙂

I cut the “egg shape” of the cake the following morning:

I made my frosting and prepared several bowls for experimenting with colors to use.

Voila! Our vernal celebration.

I also thought-up these little chick and bunny rabbit placemats from some scraps of felt I had laying around. Just use a template that you have on hand (I used a chick plate–sorry, breakfast remnants still stuck-on) and a hot glue gun to seal on eyes and other features like cotton tails and carrots. SUPER FUN! I will be using these for next years spring décor too.

Here is the cake recipe link (the only thing I did differently was use 4 eggs instead of 5, bake for 35 minutes instead of 25 and I substituted whip cream for buttermilk–only because I didn’t have any on hand). The cake tasted delicious!

White Scratch Cake Recipe

Also, did you notice the chicks standing in the grass in one of the previous pics? That was one of my “dumb creations”. Just make cute chick cut-out’s from your old cereal boxes, paint them yellow, glue to skewers and prop them up in a box

Delicious Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich (Lunch Leftovers idea)

A couple nights ago my husband suggested that we make Chicken Snitzel for dinner. Reminiscing of our 3 years spent in Germany, I thought, of course! Let’s try it.

It was a very simple recipe and you make it just like you would make a pork or Weiner Schnitzel.

The trick for any Snitzel recipe is to use fresh meat (preferably meat that you just purchased) and then brutalize the life out of it with your kitchen mallet. For chicken, you won’t have to pound the meat as much.

1.Season the chicken cutlets with salt

2. Dip in flour (shake off excess)

3. Dip in egg (shake off excess)

4. Dip in Garlic and Herb Breadcrumbs.

5. Fry in 2-4 inches of vegetable oil.

5. Blot off oil.

6. Put on Kaiser bun with your kind of condiments.

Leftovers for Lunch, Yes Please!!

I Made SOCKS from Worn Out LEGGINGS!

https://asliceofmytravels.wordpress.com/2018/03/15/i-made-socks-from-worn-out-leggings/I’ve always been a minimalist when it comes to socks. I’ve never owned more than 7 pairs of socks at any given time– and this includes that comfy pair you pull out during winter months and also that funky pair with bright pictures on it.

My Sock Drawer (I think 2 pairs of my socks are in the laundry):

Currently, all of my socks have holes in them (for the past couple years) so It dawned on me that I should get some new ones. But who wants to buy socks? And for the going price of nearly $12 a pair, I don’t think so!

What I decided to do was take some stretch pants that are full of pillings, fuzz and damage and turn them into socks. I thought, once turned inside out, they would be perfect material for a snug pair of socks.

You know when your stretchy leggings start to look awful?? Sure, you bought them at Ross 4 years ago for $6.99– but they’re ready to be recycled now.

Well, let’s turn them into socks, sounds Good? Use an old pair of your socks like this as a “template”. Next, cut around the sock and sew!

Here they are on my feet. Socks from old worn out leggings– they FEEL GREAT!

I’m sure with this pair of leggings I can probably get 3-4 pairs of socks! Also, make sure and save the waist elastic from the leggings to use on another sewing project!

I plan to make a bunch of socks over the next few months so please stay tuned!

PS: This is my first blog post I did 100% on my phone while simultaneously breastfeeding my baby. A bit tough, so excuse the cursory job. Now to change a diaper.

Biology LAB GIRL OUTFIT I MADE for less than $3.00!

The past couple of days I’ve been busy with what I’d like to call my “Biology Lab Girl Outfit”. I wanted to make my toddler a little shirt and pant set with a cute biology/science theme.

I was in Jo-Ann’s (Jo-Ann Fabric) the other week and couldn’t resist purchasing 1 yard of this fabric:

Beakers, flasks, vials, droppers, microscopes, DNA…even what appears to be the atomic planetary model. SCIENCE FUN FOR YOUR LITTLE ONE.

With my coupon, I was able to get 1 yard for less than $3.00 :). It would be just enough to make a top for my 2 year old.

What about the pants? At home, I happened to have a bunch of bedsheet scraps from one of my last projects. I thought, why not cut up these scraps and sew them together–quilting style–so that I have one solid sheet of fabric to make kid pants?

I started to sew the random scraps of bedsheet fabric (pictured above) and here’s what I got: a solid piece of (imperfectly made) “fabric” that I can now use for kid pants:

Now. Starting on the top…. I downloaded this pattern from Made Everyday a few months ago and have been using it ever since.

What about the top collar? I happened to have just a tiny bit of yellow knit ribbing in my “fabric scrap bag” . This was all I had, so I had to cut it up and piece it together to make a shirt collar.

Now, working on the pants from the “quilted fabric” I had on hand to make the pants for this outfit. Yes, I used an old pair of girls pajama pants as my pattern which I had purchased on-sale at a thrift store. I just cut it up and have been using it as my pattern for all my kid’s pants. I used 1 inch wide elastic for the waist.

And here they are (different sides, different angles etc). They are a bit long for my toddler so we roll them up for now. The waist fits perfectly! Lovin the results!

And here is the top. Finished product 🙂 (I’m actually still working on a button on the back of the top) but here it is for now:

Based on her expression here, I think she’s in love with the top. (Notice the ribbed yellow collar I made from those yellow scraps pictured above.)

And here she is, rolling around with the outfit (both top and pants).

Outfit I made for less than $3.00. Bonus: I got more experience sewing!!!!

PAJAMA PANTS I MADE FOR MYSELF

A few blog posts back I mentioned that I would be making a pair of pajama pants for myself. I’m sure you’ve been anticipating their arrival–and they’re finally here. I went and found some really soft, flannel-ish fabric with a hot-air balloon pattern from Jo-Ann’s Fabric. Adorable. Yes, this store is one of my favorites. The material was 40% off with my coupon.

I had an old, torn pair of pajama pants that I cut up and used as my “pajama pants pattern”. IT WORKED PERFECTLY! I didn’t spend a penny on the pattern.

Using my old pajama pants as a pattern for making my new ones 🙂

Front and Backs of new pants cut out (and butt area sewn) before piecing them together

(I used 1 1/2 inch wide elastic for the waist band).

Finished product. I love how they feel and how they fit. Super impressed with myself today!!

Toddler Book I made from Old Jeans

If you ever have an old, unused pair of jeans lying around and some cheap felt, why not make a cloth children’s book? That’s what I did–and that’s what I’ll be doing. It’s my new thing–so expect to see a bunch more of these creative, fun cloth books for children–my own ideas, my own art/cut-outs etc. It’s a great way to fuse my love for art, writing and sewing/crafting.

I’ve really been getting into the habit of using random supplies (or even junk) that I have on hand to make things for the kids. In fact, I won’t start a project unless I have most of the materials lying around somewhere. I always come up with the idea based on what I have on hand–that’s it. No Pinterest, no internet googling. That’s my challenge. Use what you have and come up with a random idea for it. Try to spend as little money as possible on materials (if any at all). You’ll discover that it’s very satisfying to challenge yourself to be as creative as possible. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just let your imagination flow. You’ll come up with tons of ideas!

My First Cloth book for my toddler:

Some more pages of the book…by the way, the “hands” of the clock below were cut out from a left-over plastic Dixie plate from Clementine’s birthday party.

I made a little Girl’s Pajama Top from my own torn up pajama top!

Here’s the deal: I’ve been holding onto my tattered pajamas for several years now. I thought, why not make a little pajama top for my toddler?

My challenge this week has been T-shirts and sleeves. A toddler pajama top would be a good start. Sleeves are terrible things to sew– at least for me– and after 5 tries (yes, 5…that’s 5 ruined, unsalvageable pajama tops) I finally made something that ever-so-slightly resembles a “shirt” and the finished product is at the bottom of this blog. (I used old bed sheets to practice– wouldn’t want to waste my adorable strawberry pajama fabric, albeit old).

I have a LONG way to go in terms of improvement– especially for tricky things like sleeves.

I really learned a lot this time like how to position a pattern on fabric, how to sew sleeves etc. It was my first time using a pattern– (I found a free toddler T-shirt pattern on the internet and printed it out). I usually just look at clothes or use old clothes as my “patterns”.

My old pajama top:

Attaching the pattern to the fabric:

The “toddler sized” cut outs:

Ugh. Getting. The sleeves ready to be sewn. Very easy to mess up on this part.

Finished product:

(Front is slightly shorter than the back). Also, I used random pieces from the old pajama shirt to get the most out of the fabric (didn’t have much extra) so it looks weirdly pieced together but I like it– and I managed to do it with what I had on hand– so 100% free!

I think I got the basic idea. Now to refine my skills and off to bed for my sleep deprived self. 🙂

By the way, you can get the free toddler T-Shirt pattern on the blog “Made Everyday.”

My Adorable Baby Snowman And Chocolate Covered Strawberries!!!

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