MMMM Cornbread

So I have never really been a fan of cornbread until.... I found this recipe my friend Jane (Yes I am friends with this amazing woman) recommended it from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. While normally I wouldn't dream of messing with this recipe I did. I am on a medically restricted diet and have been for quite some time. The good news is that my infection is almost gone, the better news is I have learned a lot about eating healthier. So I decided to change this a little to fit the requirements of my diet. I will say that it still has way more sugar than I am supposed to have, but sometimes it is worth the cheat! So either way this cornbread with the honey butter is KILLER!!

½ cup cornmeal
1 ½ cup whole grain flour (I use a mixture of white wheat, brown rice, kamut, and Oat)
1/2cup sugar I lessened it from 2/3 cup
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 ¼ cup milk

Add dry ingredients, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny – don’t be alarmed!). Bake in an 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. This doubles perfectly for a 9X13-inch pan.

Honey Butter:
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff

Whip all together with an electric mixer and serve at room temperature (can be refrigerated and softened).

I seldomly if ever buy marshmallow fluff, so I just omit that.

This goes great with any fall/winter soup of stew you can think of! I hope you try it and enjoy!

Another skirt tutorial :) Broomstick style

So I bet you had all thought that I had given up already on this blog. Nope just got a little busy. We went on vacation and got home and it seemed like it took a week and a half to get caught up from our 3 day break. WARNING: I was lazy during the finishing process of this skirt. Partly due to the fact that this was made for NayNay, and since she has recently decided that skirts are not her thing. She has promised that she would wear this so we will see.....
1- I started out by picking 3 halloween fabrics

2- I cut them into 4 inch strips.

3- I measured NayNay she is 26 inches from hip to ankle, and her waist was 24 inches
4-I cut the first strip to be 15 inches. You will be cutting two of every layer.


5- On the next layer I cut it 17 inches and each progressive layer got about 1 1/2 longer. Remember you are cutting 2 of each.

6- Line up the strips leaving about 3/4 of an inch extra on each end. You will then stitch them together. I did the front (the first set of strips) first, and the back (the second set of strips) next.


7- After you have done both sides they should line up perfectly and you will stitch down the sides (right sides together).

As you stitch down you will kinda go on a diagnal. With each strip you will start farther in and by the time you have reached the bottom you should be at the edge.

This is what is going to make the skirt flare and get wider as you go down. After you have stitched up both sides you will trim off the excess edges.


8-Here is where I got lazy :) Instead of doing a double folded hem I just folded it up and did a zigzag stitch around the bottom.
9- The waist. Here is different way to do an elastic waist band that I didn't do the last time. You will fold the top over about 1/4 inch and press.

Then fold it over again about 1 inch (depending on what size elastic you are using. Stitch most of the way around leave about a 1 1/2 opening. This is where you will feed your elastic through.

10- Attach a safety pin to the end of your elastic and feed through the opening you left.

Here is another part where I got lazy. I just grabbed a needle and thread and hand stitched the elastic.

It hides right into the waist casing you made, and stitch it down.

Trim your threads and you are finished. To get it wrinkled like a broomstick skirt, wash and instead of throwing it in the dryer, twist it and hang to dry, when it is dry untwist it and you have a broomstick skirt :)


Hopefully if you didn't understand a word I said the pictures will help.

I want to also do a give away soon, so if you would like a chance to win become a follower. :)

"Peaches come in a Can" NOT IN THIS HOUSE!

25 lbs peaches (summer lady)
+7 lbs sugar
+ 1 really big mess in the kitchen
+7 hours (with distractions :)
= 16 quarts of peaches
8 jars of jam
5 quarts peach honey

and I am the only one who will eat them.

Dinner in a Pinch

So as a SAHM sometimes we have to come up with dinner in a pinch. Basic cooking skills will come in handy right about now. I had no ideas for dinner tonight, and it was getting late (after 5). So here is what I came up with.

1 box pasta
1 cube butter
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
whatever cheese I have on hand. I had mozzerella and parmesan.

Cook your noodles according to directions. While they are cooking melt your butter and add ranch mix to it. Pour it over your noodles sprinkle with cheese and a dash of milk. Stir it all up until your cheese is all melted. This would be great with fresh tomatoes, green onions, chicken anything you have on hand. The night I made this I had some cooked shrimp in the freezer, so I left a little butter in the pan and sauted them up. I am the only one who will eat them so I didn't add it to the pasta. But it tasted fabulous (yes I know I broke the no cheese on seafood rule, but I am a rebel :)!

Spider! Part 2

So here is the finished project.

1- I squared the piece of material I embroidered on to 12x12 inches (well at least I tried) and pressed it.

2- Measured and cut the strips of spider material to border the white. The 2 long strips were 16x4 inches and the 2 short were 12x4 inches.




3-I then pinned the 12 inch pieces to the sides and stitched them down.

4- I then pinned and stitched the 16 inch pieces to the top and bottom.
5- Then I pressed the whole front piece.

6- I then laid the front against another scrap I had of the white fabric. It needed to be about 3 inches wider than the front. and trimmed it to fit.

7- Cut the back piece about 2 inches off center, this will over lap. Hem the edges of where you just cut about 1/4-1/2 inch.

8- Line up the unsewn edge to the edge of the front. Stitch the side right sides together. Do the other side. If you lay it out flat you should have white pieces on the side.

9-Fold over sides, they should overlap just off center of the back. Now you will pin and stitch across the top and bottom. Trim your threads and any extra overhanging pieces.

10- Turn it right side out. And insert your pillow.

I was so worried about it not being big enough to fit over the pillow that it ended up being a little big but that is an easy fix.

Spiders! Part 1

I am going to start this post by admitting something, I LOVE HALLOWEEN! If you live by me you might have witnessed some of my craziness :). So this project was inspired by Stacey over at House of Chic and Penoche. So like I said I love Halloween, but there just isn't budget to cover the obsession I have. So I try to get creative with things I already have. I go to a CTMH Scrapbook club every month (click on the link to check it out). So I had this awesome stamp I used. The fabric was leftover from another project.

1. I inked my stamp with black ink.

2. Stamped it right onto the white fabric.

3. I put it in a hoop. You can do this without the hoop but I have found it goes much faster and is way easier with one. You can pick up a hoop for inexpensive at a craft store. I inherited a few from Lance's GG when she died. Place the image you are doing centered over the inner hoop. Put the outer ring over top of the inner ring pulling the fabric so that it is taunt. Use the screw on the top to tighten.

4. Thread your needle. Embroidery floss comes in hanks and is usually about 6 strands thick. That to me is really thick, so for the thicker areas of this project I used 4 strands and the finer areas I used 2 strands.

5. Get to stitching. I have been racking my brain as I have embroidered this, on how to describe what it is I am doing. I am at a loss, but here goes... You are basically sewing along the lines. Start moving from the bottom up. Move the needle about 3-4mm and go back down on the pattern line you are working on. You will come back up from the bottom about 3-4 mm away and connect the stitches together. Clear as mud? Hopefully you can get the idea from the pictures.

I think this is going to be turned into a pillow which will be part 2 when I get it finished. :)

Simple Sassy Skirts

So I had mentioned that I wanted to get to the fabric store today, alas it did not happen :(. But lucky for me I usually have some material on hand from leftover projects. So I really wanted to make skirts for the princesses in cute Halloween fabric, those will just have to wait because the grouchy monster needed a nap. So there are 2 things that I remembered making this skirt. 1- pressing, I usually don't use the iron when I sew. I think it is mostly laziness (ok it is complete laziness) but because I was making this post I thought I better do and make you all think I am more wonderful than I really am. It really did make a difference on how easy this was to sew though. 2- use pins. I am never really good at taking the time to pin things like I should but, today I did and I didnt have to unstitch any thing!! That is totally rare for me :). So with that being said here are some instructions for a simple skirt. I have in the past done minor things to change the skirt slightly, like box pleats, pleats. I also love the look of a broomstick skirt because it doesnt need ironing.

1- pick 2 coordinating materials.

2- I cut my main piece into a 16x38 inch rectangle. (this skirt ended up being a little long)
3- I cut the trim into a 6x38 inch rectangle.

4- fold trim in half and press.

5- Stitch folded piece of trim to bottom of your main piece. Right sides together.

6- press seam.

7- Fold top of main piece down about 1/2 inch and press. You will then fold that over about an 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch and pin. This is going to create the casing for the elastic waist. Stitch that piece down.

8- measure the waist of your child with elastic, make sure the elastic is snug and then overlap it about 1/2 inch. I used a 7/8 inch elastic.

9- Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and feed through the waist casing. (the safety pin just makes it easier to move through.

10- overlap elastic about 1/2 inch and stitch together.
11- last step is to stitch up the back.



And Wha-La you have a cute skirt for you little lady. I usually spend about 4-6 dollars total and can make 2-3 skirts.