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I love to craft and I often have bits and pieces of things left over from crafting. My youngest son especially likes to craft as well and is often asking for some sort of project to work on. So, a while back, my G-Ma gave my Mom this huge tub of miscellaneous crafting supplies that she had bought at a garage sale. Mom gave it to my Sister-in-law and I to go through and pull out what we each wanted from it. There were all sorts of crafty things I was able to bring home…googly eyes, pipe cleaners, beads and tons more. So I put it all in a big plastic tub and have added things to it as I could. There’s lots of weird things in there, just perfect for a kiddo to dig through and be creative. To that tub, I added a smaller tub filled with colored pens, pencils, crayons, paints, glitter,glue and things like that. Also construction paper of all sizes and colors and some miscellaneous scrapbooking papers (glitter paper seems to be the favorite). Now when he wants to craft or is bored, I remind him of the box and he gets himself busy creating. It’s the perfect rainy day activity and it works for me!
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Here is a little graphic you are welcome to download for Word-Filled Wednesday! I hope you enjoy it!!
Feel free to right-click and save it to your own computer 
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This recipe is super simple and features two of my family’s favorite things…Smoked Sausage and Macaroni and Cheese. This is homemade-from-scratch macaroni and cheese too My fellas loved this recipe and there were no leftovers.
Smoked Sausage, Macaroni & Cheese
8 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1/8 cup butter
2 tbsp. flour
2-1/2 cups milk
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 package beef smoked sausage (about 1 lb.), diced
Preheat oven to 350°. Mix the cheeses together. Cook, the macaroni and drain; place in a rectangle casserole dish. Melt the butter in a saucepan and then stir in the flour until well mixed. Pour in the milk and stir until thickened. Stir in 1-1/2 cups cheese and mix well. Stir in the smoked sausage. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni and stir. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.
I served it with broccoli in butter sauce.
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It’s time once again for Modesty Monday here at Homestead Momma!
When I first decided to start dressing modestly, I couldn’t afford to run out an buy a new wardrobe. So, I had to make do with what I had and make it more modest. This wasn’t really that hard and I thought I’d share some of the ways I used with you today for Modest Monday.
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Blouses & Dresses, Deep V-Neck – You can layer an undershirt beneath them or sew in a piece of fabric in the V to to appear like there’s another shirt. Something similar to THIS would be perfect and would also be really simple to make on your own if you don’t want to purchase one.
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Blouses, Dresses & Skirts, See Through – This can easily be fixed by wearing an undershirt, camisole, slip or full slip underneath it.
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Blouses, Too Tight – If they are button up the front blouses, you could simply leave them unbuttoned and wear them as an overshirt, with a t-shirt or other shirt beneath them. If they’re more like t-shirts then you could wear them underneath other shirts as layers.
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Skirt, Too Short – You can easily add ruffles to the bottom of the skirt to make it longer. This can be especially cute with denim skirts. You could also add wide eyelet or lace to make them longer. Here’s instructions for making a ruffle on a skirt.
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Pants/Jeans – If you’ve felt called to wear dresses/skirts only you can turn your pants and jeans into skirts. You can find instructions for that at The Family Homestead. And here is another way to use jeans/pants to make a skirt (it could also be used to make a short skirt longer).
You can make your current wardrobe more modest by following those steps. Add more modest pieces as you can afford to. If you sew, you can make a lot of your own clothing. Skirts are so simple to make and are perfect for the beginner.
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MENU FOR WEEK
06/25/10 – 07/01/10
Breakfasts:
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Breakfast burritos
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oatmeal
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grits
Lunches:
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Out to eat, Pizza Inn
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Cream Cheese Rollups
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Chicken, Apples, & Cheese Sandwiches
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Bean & Cheese Burritos
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Tuna Melts
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Sandwiches
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Sandwiches
Dinners:
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Hamburgers
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Tacos
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Toasty Tuna Melt Casserole
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Turkey Florentine
It’s time once again for Feminine Friday over at Buildeth Her House. Friday is always my day to grocery shop and run errands. So, I like to dress in something comfortable and cool since I’m doing a lot of driving and my suburban doesn’t have a/c (and it’s TEXAS!). But you don’t have to sacrifice looking feminine, even in hot weather! Here’s what I wore today:
The blouse is a new one (well new for me), I got it at a garage sale last weekend for $2. It’s a white cotton plaid with brown, tan, robin egg’s blue and gold. I like the empire waisted bodice and it has a cute “peasant” kind of feel to it. I just love the puff sleeves, which I think give any blouse a very feminine look. Very cute, comfortable and cool. The skirt is one of my favorites. It’s a denim prairie style skirt, I got it at a garage sale last summer for I think $1. I’m wearing my new tennis shoes that I got last weekend. My old pair were looking a little worn, so they’re now my gardening shoes.
My hair is my normal Friday look…down with the sides pulled back with a baby blue bandanna “headband”. I often wear my hair down on Fridays because I know I’ll be meeting Marty for lunch and he LOVES it down. But because I drive with the windows down I pull it up in a messy bun while I drive and then let it down before going into the restaurant or store…keep my hair from being a rat’s nest at the end of the day by been blown all over the place by the wind.
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It’s time once again for another Fix-It Friday over at i heart faces! This week we’re continuing our "Celebrating Teens" theme with this cool photo of Susan Keller’s teenage son.
This was a nice photo, but the sun flair has really washed out the color and sharpness. So, I decided to try to brighten it without loosing any of the detail. This is how I edited the photo in Photoshop Elements 7:
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ran Amy McMasters “Squeaky Clean” action to help correct the colors (flattened)
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Ran Pioneer Woman’s “Boost” action twice to boost up the colors. (Flattened)
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I then ran Pioneer Woman’s “Slight Sharp” action to sharpen the photo a bit.(Flattened)
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I then cropped the photo to get rid of visually distracting items like the utility box on the left and the brightest part of the sun flair.
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I then ran Pioneer Woman’s “Boost” action a third time. (Flattened)
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I then copied the background 2 times. The first layer stayed the same (background), the 2nd layer I removed the color (ctrl+Shift+U) and set it to 40% opacity. The 3rd layer I set to “Soft Light” at 100% opacity. (Flattened)
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I then added some noise. Filter—>Noise—>Add Noise… Set the Distribution to Uniform, Amount 3% and checked Monochromatic. (Flattened)
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I then ran Pioneer Woman’s “Lovely” action to smooth things out a bit. (Flattened)
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Then I just resized and processed for the web.
I think my edit brought out the colors and gave it a kind of “urban” look to it, which I thought would be fun when I first saw the photo. Here’s my edited version:
Here’s a side-by-side comparison:
This is a really simple casserole, yet it’s really yummy. It make a really nice meatless meal. My fellas really liked it a lot and I love it when I can find a meatless meal they love. It’s also a pretty frugal meal. This entire meal cost under $5! So it’s a real budget stretcher. This is one of those “dump” meals…just dump a few cans to make it, although, next time I’ll make my own black beans to lower the price. I served it with a salad and biscuits, but I think cornbread would have been good too.
Black Bean Tortilla Casserole
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (14.5 oz. can) diced tomatoes
3/4 cup picante sauce
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
2 (15 oz. cans) black beans (or about 4 cups home cooked)
8 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the tortillas and cheese. Stir together and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. In the bottom of a 9×13 inch casserole dish, spread about half of the mixture. Top with a layer of 4 tortillas and half of the cheese. Add in layers the following: remaining bean mixture and 4 more tortillas. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and heat until cheese melts on top, about 10 minutes.
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Whoever said that real men don’t eat quiche, never met my fellas! This was the first time I’d ever made quiche and being the kind of cook I am, I just decided to fly by the seat of my pants. I took a really basic recipe and changed a few ingredients to make it into something I thought my guys would like. AND BOY, did they! This recipe turned out so yummy and I’m so thankful that’ there was a little bit leftover that I can eat today I served it with an easy fruit salad, diced apples and grapes with vanilla yogurt dressing. It was a nice and light summer meal!
Bacon & Broccoli Quiche
2.5 oz. bacon cooked and crumbled (mine was precooked and already drained)
1/2 an onion chopped
4 tbsp. butter (if bacon was cooked at time of the meal, you could use the bacon grease instead of the butter, you don’t need to use both)
8 eggs
4 tbsp. milk
4 tbsp. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. dried parsley
Salt & pepper to taste
1 top and bottom unbaked pie crust (I used 1 box of refrigerated pie crust)
2 cups cheddar cheese
8 oz. chopped broccoli, thawed
Preheat oven to 350°. In a 9×13 inch casserole dish place the top and bottom pie crust. Make sure the bottom and sides are covered. In a skillet add the butter or use the bacon grease to brown the onion until soft. Add the bacon and stir fry for a few minutes. Remove from burner and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, parsley, salt, and pepper. Add the onion, bacon, broccoli, and cheese. Mix well. Pour into the pie crust in the casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm.
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Friday is my big day for running errands. It’s the one day a week when I leave my house and so I usually have a long list of things to buy and/or do. For a long time I relied on my memory to get things done, but I often forgot things and that was a problem. So each week, I start a 2 column Word file and start keeping track of what I need to do. When I make my menu on Thurday, I use it to have a copy of my grocery shopping list. Then I add any errands, bills (with amounts) and extras that I need to do. I keep a spiral on my desk where my husband and boys can write down reminders which I transfer over to my Word list on Friday morning. Before I leave to run my errands, I simply print out the list and off I go! It’s great, because I can make notes on it as well, for example I can write down a referrence number in regards to a bill or a note to myself to check prices on something. This keeps me organized and I don’t forget anything. Works for Me! Here’s a sample list:
