11.29.2010

cyber monday!



just dropping in with a quick announcement! 
everything in the shop is 20% off today only for cyber monday! 
no coupon codes needed! 



special coupon code just for blog readers: BLOG10.
use this to get an extra 10% off anything you order- ANYTIME!

11.17.2010

featured

our internet connection should be up in a few days (after a big fight with frontier) so for now i just have a quick update with beautiful treasuries i've been featured in recently. thanks to the wonderful people who featured my items!

also be sure to go check out the wonderful new tool i used to create this blog post. no more treasury screen shots! use the etsy treasury widget from craftcult!






thanks to all the hardworking treasury creators for the features!

10.12.2010

chicken enchilada casserole

this is a favorite around here. it's easy, fast and very versitile! some days we make it with just cheese, other days with chicken or ground beef. i can throw in jalepenos, green chiles or onions. the prep time is less than 5 minutes, the cooking time less than 20. that's dinner on the table in less than a half hour! 
perfect.

chicken enchilada casserole

ingredients:
2 T vegetable oil
2 T taco seasoning
(alton brown's is my favorite. i lessened the salt a bit, tripled the recipe & keep it in a small jar)
1 chicken breast
(because we're cleaning out our freezer for the move & it's all i had. 2 would be more filling)
1 can enchilada sauce
(we use La Victoria. it has an authentic flavor, is inexpensive & gluten free!)
12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese
(or less if you like your arteries. we like cheese)


directions:
season chicken with taco seasoning & saute in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil. 
once the chicken is cooked through, shred it.
preheat oven to 350 degrees.
spread a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce in the bottom of your dish. cover with tortillas: two whole & one ripped in half will cover my whole dish. experiment to see what covers yours.
 begin layering ingredients: cheese, chicken, cheese, tortillas, enchilada sauce. repeat. 


i didn't have enough chicken for all the layers so i kept going with just cheese. 
after your final layer, pour on the last of the enchilada sauce and top with cheese one more time. 


when you zoom out a little you see what was really happening while i took pictures...


cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. 
remove foil and return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. 
devour.


10.10.2010

sunday morning


What ever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for me, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 
Colossians 3:23-24

i have been calling these verses to mind a lot lately. they were a good reminder to me as i struggled to spend every day at a job that was not fulfilling, but also going forward as i begin to build this little business. remember that whatever task you're doing, no matter how menial or trivial, it is the Lord you are serving!

10.09.2010

second hand saturdays

welcome to a new feature here on the blog where i spotlight recent thrifted or free finds!
 usually these are small items...plates or candlesticks for cake stands, jewelry to be repurposed, a skirt or sweater. but today, for the inaugural post of second hand saturdays, here's my most recent & most beautiful acquisition!


this beautiful hutch showed up on freecycle a few weeks ago. i just happened to be sitting in front of the computer when the email arrived. usually the good items like this go before i have a chance to ask hubby if he wants to haul it back to our house and send an email. on this day i decided not to wait and just sent the email immediately.

 i was the first response!! never happens. never. i could be the first person on a bag of cat food or some used coloring books but never something as pretty as this hutch! i arranged for some heavy lifting help for hubby and this little beauty made it home! it is now sitting in the corner of our dining room filled with linens, china and cookbooks. can't wait to see where it will live in our new home!

10.07.2010

a new obsession

cheap. easy. delicious. 
garlic hummus!
we've been buying it at trader joe's quite a bit lately & i finally decided i should try to make it myself. 

turns out it's SUPER easy. 
and super CHEAP! 
the recipe doesn't use tahini so it's not technically authentic but it's so tasty that i just don't care!

please excuse horrible dark pictures. i decided this needed to be posted asap
(before we ate it all)

ingredients:
2 cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans (64¢ each)
let's take a moment to discuss the fact that i didn't realize these were the same thing until this year, even though it clearly says so right there on the can...

5 cloves garlic (79¢ for the whole bulb)
juice of 1 small lemon (33¢)
2 T peanut butter (calculations tell me this is 8.7¢)
2-5 T olive oil (i'm not calculating!)
kosher salt
(total cost: $2.497 for about 3 cups!)



disclaimer: i don't measure things. i add ingredients and blend and taste. and add more. and taste. and so on...but i tried to pay attention this time so you could recreate the deliciousness!

directions:
drain the chickpeas. save a few tablespoons of the liquid.
add garlic cloves to food processor and pulse to chop them up a bit.
add all remaining ingredients (including liquid from chickpeas & lemon juice) except olive oil
 pulse until well combined.
add olive oil a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
stick a chip in and taste it to make sure you have enough salt and/or garlic (we like a LOT of garlic!)
done and done.
devour.

(hummus is not the prettiest, but it sure is delicious!)


10.05.2010

crazy things are happening

here's a clue
and another
but when we get there it will probably look like this...
final clue. 
did you guess it? 
we're moving!
to wisconsin!
the crazy part is that i'm starting a new job in three weeks.
we're moving out of the house by the end of october. 

this is both a long time coming and very sudden!
when we left HoneyRock in 2008 we left a big part of our hearts in the Northwoods. we love HoneyRock but we also love the communities of Three Lakes and Eagle River. we've had a burden on our hearts for those communities for sometime and in the past few weeks the doors have been opened for us to move there! 
i'm going to be the secretary & treasurer of the church we attended in Three Lakes.
a house for rent (and possibly purchase!?) dropped into our laps.
we should know about a job for hubby this week. 
my job will be structured enough that i know when i'll be at work and when i won't, but also few enough hours that i'll be able to put in good time as craftee mcgee, all before hubby gets home from work!

we're excited. and a little scared. and a little sad. but mostly excited.
more updates to come as this crazy whirlwind continues
(including a garage sale)


10.04.2010

big crazy news...

coming soon!
later tonight perhaps. 
seriously. 
big. 
crazy. 
news.
(and no. i'm not pregnant!)

8.17.2010

fun with wire


since hubby has been out of town i've had lots of time to play with new jewelry ideas. the past few nights i've been trying my hand at making rings.  i need to get some legit supplies before i offer these in the shop (like a ring mandrel....probably shouldn't size rings on a highlighter for customers) but i love doing this!

 this first one matches the green meadows crocheted bracelet in the etsy shop. i wanted the funky look that comes from crocheting wire to come through in this ring and i think i succeeded!


to make this i took a piece of 20 gauge wire, formed a loop in each end and wrapped the whole piece in matching 26 gauge wire. to make it circular, i wrapped the piece around a highlighter that was a bit bigger than my ring size.
then i strung lots of beads onto another piece of 26 gauge wire and played with them until i was satisfied with the size and shape of the cluster. (i'll do a full tutorial soon, when i can take process pictures)
this one is a lot like the first one but made with freshwater pearls.  


these two are wire wrapped rings with a "rosette" on top. 20 gauge wire wrapped a few times around the highlighter (super professional i know!) then twisted around the top and finally wrapped back around the ring. i'm hoping to try this technique with a big pretty bead on top. 

         giveaways     

treasuries

i was pleasantly surprised to find that my green meadow crocheted bracelet had been featured in two beautiful treasuries over the weekend.

this one features not only my favorite item in my shop but beautiful items in my very favorite color.
head on over and check out Olive never drab... 
thanks so much by the bead for including me!


this next one was quite popular on the treasuries page
(i wonder if people were clicking to find out about that animal on her shoulder!) 
In this day
had a beautiful mix of unique items that i was proud to be feautured with!
thanks so much on your head for including me!


2010 reading list

i haven't read nearly as much as i'd like to this year, especially this summer. my summers have always been spent book in hand, but this summer i've had some sort of project in hand! i also haven't done the best job of recording the books i've completed...but here's my best attempt! 

Read in 2010

The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan: 
i am most certainly my (food engineer) father's daughter. this book captivated me and had me telling everyone around me all about what i had learned for weeks. then i watched documentaries on food and wished we could afford grass fed beef. read it. you'll learn something. 
In the Woods, Tara French: 
given to me by my sister. read while in california. quick read, interesting mystery, however i wasn't satisfied with the way the story wrapped up. 
Love is a Four Legged Word, Kandy Shepherd: 
my mother in law was at costco, saw this book and thought of me. i think she only looked at the cover & saw a girl cooking with a dog at her feet. if she had turned the book over she would have realized it was a somewhat trashy romance novel but it was entertainment for my flight home. 
the same day she bought a book for my sister in law because it involved a mom with three girls (which is my s-i-l). she didn't notice that the mom died, leaving behind the three girls and chronicling their terrible lives. she meant well, she really did!
Breaking Free, Beth Moore:
winter Bible study. challenging and difficult, but necessary and good.
Stepping Up: A Journey Through the Psalms of Ascent, Beth Moore:
spring Bible study. very good. going to try to walk through it again this month. 
A Rainbow of Stitches, Agnes Delage-Calvet: 
can i count this book as reading? beautiful pictures. much inspiration. inspired this little experiment 







In Progress
My Life in France, Julia Child
LOVE. i want to move to france. and cook. and eat butter. lots of butter.
Game Change, John Heilemann & Mark Halperin: 
audio book on my phone. i listen to it when i walk to work. very interesting behind the scenes look at the '08 election.
The Irregulars, Jennet Conant: 
another audio book on my phone. did you know roald dahl was in america as a spy for the british during wwii? me neither.
Wired for Intimacy, William Struthers: 
fascinating. important. written by one of my favorite college profs. 
The Places in Between, Rory Stewart: 
borrowed from lynn. started this sometime last year. story of a very interesting, i just keep getting distracted. 
Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas:
what if marriage wasn't meant to make you happy but to make you holy? reading it again. it's good. and hard. 

Before the Year is Over
Harry Potter, Books 1-6, J.K. Rowling 
i will read the first 6 before deathly hallows comes out, then i will read the first half of deathly hallows immediately after seeing the movie. if i read the book first i'll inevitably hate the movie.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Handmade Nation, Nikki McClure et al
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
Craft, Inc, Meg Mateo 

i'll try to update as i keep reading! how about you? what have you been reading this summer? anything i should add to my list? let me know!

8.16.2010

a new look!

lately i've been feeling like i wanted my blog design to more accurately reflect who i am. 
i can't afford a blog designer just yet & i wasn't very happy with most of the ready made templates out there. so last night i put on my big girl boots and spent many hours playing with code, pixels, fonts and pictures and came up with this! it's probably just temporary, but for now it makes me happy and certainly reflects me! 
i also spent a long time writing and scheduling posts for this week so stay tuned! 

8.08.2010

sunday morning


peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. 
not as the world gives do I give. 
let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27


as one who struggles with anxiety, this verse is my cornerstone. i pray that it can encourage you this week as it encourages me. 

8.06.2010

featured!

i know, i know, i'm terrible at posting lately (working on getting myself organized- real posts really are coming soon!) but i didn't want to wait a million years to show off the cute treasury that featured me today!  my new blueberry pie statement necklace is there in the top row!


thanks so much to blue sun emporium for the feature!!

7.26.2010

adventures

details to come of our many adventures but i wanted to leave you with this little preview. i fulfilled a lifelong dream & went cherry picking. 
and now i have 10 pounds of cherries to use up. jam, pie filling, cobbler, etc coming up soon!