All things Halloween

I saw this little pumpkin tutorial on Pinterest and new I had to make some of my own. They (California) have all sorts of pumpkins that I have never seen before.  I painted them while drinking a Heineken and watching Cabin in the woods with Andrew. I let Jackson paint his own little pumopkin. It seems like Painting pumpkins here is the way to go. The carved ones lasted about two days before they started to liquify on the front porch. Its just to warm for them, not that im complaining about all the sun.

I have been struggling with this sock for a long time. I bought the wool in April sometime and have been trying to make them ever since. It is my first time making anything on double pointed needles and it took me a while to get the hang of it. I have started this sock about twenty times and then rip it all out.  I am trying to knit the heel flap but I just am having the hardest time. I want to throw the whole thing out on a regular basis but I want to just finish it!

We used some stencils to make some fun pumpkins this year. I feel like the character choices are very telling. 

I volunteered to bring the fruit plate for the preschool Halloween party. It makes me feel really grown up when I sign up for things like this. I still haven't gotten over that feeling that im just playing grown up.

The preschool class went on a little trick or treating parade around the neighbourhood. It was so warm on Halloween I had to put Jack in shorts in a T-shirt so he wouldn't roast in his costume. Thats definitely a step up from snowsuit halloween we were are used to in Calgary.

I was at the library with Jack reading Real Simple Magazine while jack played. They had some Halloween book recommendations and I thought sure I will read a scary book. The magazine recommended this novel Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates it was disturbing and kind of yucky. It was about a serial killer, not zombies as one would think. Andrew says it sounds a lot like Jeffrey Dahmer. It was yucky and just creeped me out. 

I loved having Halloween here, Berkeley is winning my heart over more and more every day.

Mini Birthday bunting

I was recently perusing my bloglovin feed and saw this adorable post on a cuppa and a catch up about tiny bunting as a card and small present. My dear friend has a Birthday coming up and I wanted to send a little something to her. I added some trader joe PB&J chocolate and some other little goodies. She is someone who loves candy even more than I do. 

It probably wont make it in time for her birthday but I hope she has a lovely day and knows that I am thinking about her on her Birthday!

Homemade Reusable Snack Bags

My Aunt recently contacted me to make her some reusable snack bags. I luckily had some PUL on hand for the lining. It seems to me that there is a lot of debate about what fabric is best to use and is food safe.   I bought my fabric from Wazoodle in Canada and the website and manufactures website said that it is food safe. Thats good enough for me, I probably wouldn't put it in the microwave or anything but I think that it will be ok. I cant imagine its any worse that the other plastic containers people use for their food.

I used this tutorial it was super  easy and came together really quickly. I used velcro for the closure and that worked great. I tried one with a zipper closer and it was just really wonky and crazy. PUL can be rather finicky to sew with, I wish that I had a teflon  foot for my sewing machine. The top piece of fabric kept bunching as I was sewing and it was really hard to get things to line up nicely. They say that the teflon can help with the sticking that happens with the fabric.

I think I might need to make some for myself, I hope she likes them.

Paper Piecing - Kitchen Aid Mixer

I have been wanting to try a paper pieced pattern for a while. I always see them and think they look so amazing and hard. This pattern and tutorial from Why Not Sew?  are so easy to follow. I would never be able to come up with a pattern on my own but it is definitely not as intimidating as I originally thought. It did take a bit of work trying to get my printer to take the freezer paper but in the end it worked. I love the end result, I am not sure what I am going to do with this. I have seen some people make a cover for a Kitchen Aid mixer but I don't want to cover my mixer I love its shiny Red colour in my kitchen. I will save this for a while until I can find something to do with it.

If you are looking to try paper piecing this is a good pattern to start with, there aren't too many little bits and it comes together so quickly.

Little Things to Sew - Cozy Winter Hood Yoda Hat

I saw these versions of the Yoda hat on Girl Like the Sea and Homemade by Jill and knew that I needed to make one for my Star Wars obsessed little guy. The pattern from Little things to Sew calls for a thicker warmer fabric, I wanted it to be a bit lightweight for playing so I just used some flannel I had on hand. I just skipped the ear part of the instructions and it came together really quickly. I drew my own template for the ears and put a bit of quilt batting in the ear to help give them a bit of structure. I attached them to the sides. I also just used some of the flannel instead of ribbon for the ties. It is a really easy pattern to follow and it came together in less then and hour.  I think he loves it

Meal Planning Week 4

Saturday, June 22
Salmon Patties and Rice

Sunday, June 23 
MacRae Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice and Steamed Broccoli

Monday, June 24
Chicken Diablo with Rice and Corn

Tuesday, June 25
Spaghetti with Meatballs
The spaghetti noodles were left over from a batch Andrew made last month and we just froze them. The meatballs were just something I made and didn't use a recipe for.

Wedensday, June 26
Almond Stir Fry 
We made this again because everyone liked it so much

Thursday, June 27
Veggie Sloppy Joes with veggies
Turns out what I thought was sloppy joe sauce was some veggie chili. I really need to label things in the freezer. I made some homemade buns because I thought we were having sloppy joes. It worked out we ate everything anyway.

Friday, June 28
Homemade Shake and Bake Chicken and Rice with some corn
I just through some spices and salt and pepper in with some bread crumbs. I wished I was paying attention because it was so good.

Saturday, June 29
 lasagana with homemade noodles.
Andrew is the pasta maker in this house. He made the noodles with Jack and he used the lasagna recipe from Pioneer Woman. It was so good and made enough for basically two smaller lasagnas. So We froze half for lunches or a night we don't want to cook. The noodle recipe is just from the kitchen aid book that came with pasta attachment.


So this month we went a bit over budget by about $15 dollars but I blame that on being sick and buying some extra stuff but I also did quite a bit of baking this month that I didn't take into account when making the plan. I hope that I can keep it under budget in July.

Brown Sugar Raisin Bread.

I am pretty sure there are healthier recipes, but I had all the ingredients on hand for this one. It was one of the few rain days here in Berkeley and we were trying to find indoor activities. We made a 

 fort and built a cardboard house for his lego guys. I brought out the ironing board for some much needed height and those black binder clips and some string are amazing for building forts. All things I wish I knew about when I was a little kid. I used to make forts all the time. One summer my mom let me take over the dining room and I made a giant cardboard house that I kept up for practically the whole summer. I also forgot that one summer as a teenager she let me set up my tent in the back yard and I ran an extension chord to it and had a lamp and a stereo and I even pulled my mattress out side. We had the best sleepovers out there. 

This bread usually one lasts about a day in our house. It makes some delicious toast, warm out of oven is the best. 

Peach Pie

So I have become pie obsessed and I figure the more pie I make the easier it will be. So we are being inundated with peaches from the backyard and what better way to eat all those delicious peaches than a home baked peach pie? I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I am obsessed with her recipes and so far they have all been amazing.

Cutting the butter into the flour, I got this pastry blender in Jr. High from two of my friends.  

Ice Water

I can never get it all together but it seems to all work out 

Blanching the peaches to get the skin off

Tasty Peaches from the tree in our backyard

LAttice top, this one doesn't look as pretty as my last pie but it was just as delicious

I burnt the edges a bit. I was cooking dinner while the pie was baking and forgot to check the pie. Other wise it was so good. 

Meal Planning Week 3

So this week was a total bust, Andrew was sick on the weekend and Monday Jack went down and then I was sick all week. So we dropped a few meals because I was a zombie and really didn't want to cook.

Saturday, June 15
Turkey sandwiches with Havarti and cranberry sauce, Chips and fresh veggies.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Sunday, June 16 Fathers Day
Peasant Toast for Breakfast inspired by the Blue Fox Cafe. We just make some french toast with a nice seedy bread and top it with sliced bananas french vanilla yogurt and almonds and a drizzle of honey.

Sun-dried tomato and mint pesto with fontina and arugula sandwiches from the Rebar cookbook. The mint is from the garden and really made the pesto so fresh and yummy.

Making a star wars video on Fathers Day


Monday, June 17
Chicken Fried Rice

Tuesday, June 18 Sick Day
Quinoa Burgers with Salad but I was sick so instead
Andrew brought home some soup and Bread from the Berkeley Bowl

Wednesday, June 19 Still Sick
Phad Thai from the Rebar Cookbook (I was still sick so I just made some eggs and toast)

Thursday, June 20 Last Sick day
Falafel Wraps ( we just use tzatziki instead of the tahini) instead we had
California pizza kitchen frozen pizza and some sort of boxed chicken nuggets for Jack.

Friday, June 21
Rotini pasta with Italian sausage.
I found this recipe in a magazine and it is actually really easy and so good.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I asked Andrew last friday if he wanted some sort of treat for Fathers Day. We had already picked out all the special meals but I wanted to make a favourite dessert. He chose strawberry Rhubarb pie, I love to eat it and hate making the dough. I thought I found a fool proof recipe from the Pioneer Woman but then I tried the dough from Smitten Kitchen and it was amazing. When I was trying to gather it into a ball and it kept crumbling I thought it was going to be a disaster but I kind of forced it together and put it into the fridge  to chill.

When it was time to roll I was pleasantly surprised that it rolled out perfectly. I have never had a pie that didn't fall apart at some point or another.

With some crazy cheap strawberries and garden rhubarb this was probably the best thing about the weekend. I now dream about this strawberry rhubarb pie all the time. I just love things that come from our garden. The recipe calls for quick cooking tapioca which I couldn't find so we just used some organic tapioca starch. It wasn't to runny, but next time I will try the quick cooking Tapioca. 

I then attempted a lattice pie top, which actually seems really confusing but I just googled a video and watched some lady do it and then I realized its actually super easy. I get all bent out of shape about pie dough but this recipe is just so good. 

So go to smitten kitchen and use this amazing recipe.

Meal Planning Week 2

Here is the week 2 meal plan. We didn't stick to it completely, but close enough. I have learned that the more tasty homemade food we eat, the less we like pre-made meals. Sometimes convenience wins, but it is happening less and less. I am also hoping to start making soup and freezing Jack size portions. I think he could eat chicken noodle soup everyday. I tries using dried black beans this month and I probably wont use them again. The texture and overall taste was not as good as the canned. Perhaps I am just not doing it right?

Saturday June 8

Rustic Bread Salad with Basil Vinaigrette 

from the Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

Sunday June 9

Black Bean Burgers with sweet potato fries. I copied this recipe out of Gwenyth Paltrow cookbook but you can follow the link to the recipe.

Morning Glory Muffins. - I've started to make muffins on the weekend and freeze them for Andrew. He is training for a triathlon and has been getting up super early to do his training. So he takes one out of the freezer the night before and eats the muffin, fruit and oatmeal for breakfast at school.

Monday June 10
Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and Trader Joe's Naan bread. This makes huge portions and we have been eating left overs all week.

Tuesday June 11 (we didn't eat this, we just had left over tikka masala)
Yam & Pepita Quesidillas from  Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook
I have started making a couple of batches of the honey chipotle sauce and freezing it. So this comes together really fast. We eat this on a regular basis

Wednesday June 12.
Veggie Quiche and salad with our garden veggies. With this crust recipe  from the Pioneer Woman.
It makes three pie crusts and freezes amazingly well.

Thursday June 13
Trader Joes Veggie Lasagna (We didn't like the veggie lasagna it was kind of gross)
Andrew has a conference this week so he wont be home so I am taking a cooking break.

Friday June 14
Thai Chicken Pizza & Margherita Pizza  I use the rebar pizza dough recipe and usually split it into 2 medium size pizzas and make a mini cheese pizza for Jack. 

Meal Planning Week 1

We have been trying to eat out less and eat better in general, we are also trying to save money. This means that I have started to meal plan. I did the monthly meal plan because it allows me to do a giant shop at the beginning of the month. Then four smaller shops to stock up on dairy and fresh veggies and fruit. We are trying to cut down our meat consumption from every day to about 3 times a week. I would say we are doing alright at this. I am trying a whole bunch of new Vegetarian recipes and it's going really well. Jack is the only one who doesn't appreciate the influx of beans and vegetables in our life. He is currently adhering the beige diet, mostly cheese quesadillas and cereal and other carb rich foods.

I will post the weekly meal plan and any recipes I can. Most of the recipes are on my Pinterest board so I can easily access them on my iPhone while cooking.

Saturday June 1
Taco Salad with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette
*note: I would use some oil or cooking spray on your bowl to mould tortillas so they don't stick while baking. Otherwise they fuse to the bowl and are impossible to get off.

Sunday June 2
Salmon with parmesan gremolata smashed potatoes and green beans

Monday June 3
Herb Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Carrots.
I used the chicken carcass to make some tasty chicken stock

Tuesday June 4
Black Bean Enchiladas

Wednesday June 5
Almond Vegetable Stir-Fry
Jack is a huge fan of broccoli and the almonds were so good. I added way more than the recipe calls for.

Thursday June 6
Bangers & Mash
This is a request from Andrew. I love chicken and apple sausage and just some regular mashed potatoes   and some steamed veggies. This is a meal I make when we don't need any left overs for lunch.

Friday June 7
Cheat Day- We went to the Cheese Board for Pizza and I made a Trader Joe's frozen meal for dinner. Sometimes I take the day off cooking.

So far we are off to a good start. Some of the recipes seem like they are pretty big for our little family, we use all the left overs for our lunches or freeze them for another meal.

One Year...

It has been a whole year since my last post. So much as happened. Everything was up in the air and kind of hectic. We spent a lot of time apart which was really hard. Andrew was travelling around from job interview to conferences all over the world. While he was travelling we spent a lot of time on Vancouver Island with my family. So even thought we were apart it was nice to be home with our families. We finally found a job (Andrews dream job) and are settled nicely into the San Francisco Bay area.

Sadly, two weeks after we arrived we got a call from my mom who had been diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. Jack and I flew home right away and went to help with my sister and be with my family. Her diagnoses and surgeries and complications have been a long road for our family. However, I am very happy to belong to such an amazing community of friends and family and sometimes  strangers who have been so amazing and supportive to our family.

Needless to say my creative endeavours have been put on hold for the last year. I have worked on a few projects but not nearly as much as I would like. I hope settling into our new home and being together as a family again will allow me to find that balance and some time to pursue the ever growing list of projects.