The Fashion Show

I was able to put together a fashion show for Motherhood, and Friday was the big day.

It was so cool, because everything actually worked out according to plan... and everyone I asked to model for it all came!!!

HA! When they saw the hundreds of people we would be going to model in front of, some of them thought they felt the baby coming on... :) Nice try. But we all went out there....

one carrying twins...

one full term...

or just a belly pillow...

(I modeled too) and it was a lot of fun.

So much planning was involved for just 2 minutes of fame... but it was all worth it.

Hannah's flower girl dress...

My mother-in-law's co-worker is getting married in July, so she commissioned me to make her niece a flower girl dress.

I made it out of a brushed cotton and tulle as the base of the dress, and a black satin sash as the embellishment.

This was the first flower girl dress I made, but the second wedding gown I've made with tulle.

Project: Bean Jars

We were wanting to incorporate more beans, peas, and rice in our diet because we've heard a lot of good things about them... they're cheap, easy to make, they're high in fiber, protein and are pretty versatile in a lot of different foods (chili, soups, stews, dips, burritos, etc.). After realizing how colorful all the different varieties were I thought that they would actually look really nice if they were displayed in the kitchen.


We had a large old-fashioned candy jar that we had picked up at Crate&Barrel back in California that we really liked the look of, but we didn't want to end up paying $20 per jar. Then when we were doing our preliminary "move into a new place shopping spree" we found the exact same jars at Wal-mart for about $4, so we were able to do all the beans and peas we wanted! We also did a jar of brown rice that I forgot to snap a shot of.


We organized these by color... (Black, Red, Kidney, Split Pea, Lentil, Pinto, Chick Pea, Black-Eyed Pea, White and Navy Beans). Now whenever I need some I just take out what we need, put them in a bowl and soak them in water overnight and they're ready in the morning. Not only is it cheaper, but it's better for you, because you get to control the freshness of the beans and eliminate any additives (like sodium or high fructose corn syrup) which some canned beans have.


We also maximized the use of the jar by cutting a piece of foam board to split the jar in two, so we could have more varieties of beans. We decided to use the whole jar for black and pinto beans as well as a single jar for brown rice.

Project: Magnetic Spice Jars

We were helping clean up the party favors a friends wedding and my husband had an awesome idea to use the jars (from Ikea) for our spices and make them magnetic so that they could stick to the fridge. A year later we were finally able to organize our spices using the jars from the wedding.

We filled all the jars with our various spices, put magnets in the lids, labeled the jar and then organized them by color on the fridge. Some of the larger spices (like cinnamon and bay leaves) required larger jars, so we reused some of our store-bought spice jars.


No more knocking over the spices and trying to hunt them down in the cabinet. It's made cooking with different flavors so much easier!

Day 5: Stretching the dollar... re-using ingredients and a crock pot

Day 5: Friday
Leftover pulled pork sandwich and prosciutto, squash and potato soup

This is one of my favorite soup recipes! It has the perfect amount of sweetness and saltiness with a bit of kick. Yumm!!!


Prosciutto, Squash and Potato Soup

• 1 white or yellow onion (cut in half and then sliced really thin)
  
• drizzle of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 -1/2 cup chopped prosciutto (can be substituted for 1/2LB bacon)
• 1 LB peeled butternut squash, cut into 1" cubes
• 4 white potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4" thick circles
• 4-6 cups chicken stock (use leftover stock from the night before)
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper
  
• cayenne pepper (optional)
  

Saute in a large sauce pan the onions with drizzle of olive oil until onions are tender, season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Add garlic, and saute for 1 min. Add prosciutto and saute for 1 min. Add squash, potatoes, carrots and stir with wooden spoon. Then add chicken stock and sprigs of rosemary and cook on medium heat for 30-40 min (potatoes and squash will get soft when ready). Serve hot with leftover pulled pork sandwich (re-heat pulled pork in warm oven before serving on a toasted roll).

Day 4: Stretching the dollar... re-using ingredients and a crock pot

Day 4: Thursday
Pulled Pork Sandwiches with side salad


Pulled Pork

• 2 LB pork loin or pork roast
• 4-6 cup chicken stock (enough to cover roast)
• salt and pepper

Set roast in crock pot and cover with chicken stock. Cook on low for 8-9 hrs. Meat should become tender and stringy. Drain chicken stock in a glass bowl/container and save for tomorrow's soup (put in refrigerator for time being). In Crock pot, shred pork with 2 forks so that only small stringy pieces remain. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle/drench with BBQ sauce (either store bought or homemade) and heat on low to keep warm until serving. Serve hot on toasted roll or bun with a side salad.

Day 3: Stretching the dollar... re-using ingredients and a crock pot

Day 3: Wednesday:

Pork roast with snap peas and baked potato

Crock Pot Pork Roast

• 2LB pork loin or pork roast
• 1 cup chicken stock

Place pork roast in crock pot with chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.


Baked potato (or can substitute for roasted white potatoes)

• 1 russet potatoes (for each person)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash potatoes, poke with fork (to prevent potato from exploding in oven) and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in oven and bake for 1 1/2 hrs. When ready open potato up, and serve with your favorite toppings (sour cream, cream cheese, butter, cheese, bacon bits, chives...)

Snap peas and dinner roll

• left over snap peas
• 1 dinner roll per person

Wash snap peas and place in a steam basket. Steam until soft, but still crisp (1-2 min). Serve rolls hot by putting them in warm oven for 2-3 min. Serve hot with butter.