easy

Queasy Bake Oven – Cooking Mixes for Boys

A family friend’s son turned five last week. Knowing how hard it is to have a birthday so close to Christmas, I really try to be creative each year with his gift. Last year, we got him a nice chef hat, mixing utensils, an oven mitt and all the supplies needed to make cupcakes. The kid likes to cook. His Mom and Dad are foodies and spend time in the kitchen. Just after Christmas, my friend posted a picture of this, now five year old, using a hand-me-down Easy Bake Oven. He looked like he was having a blast. Then, it clicked for me…he needed some Easy Bake Oven Recipes for boys. After doing some research, I found this great post from Budget101.com with all kinds of Easy Bake Oven Recipes. When scrolling through all of the great recipes, I saw the short list of “Queasy Bake Oven” recipes, and there my idea was born! Why not take the same recipes and give them yucky, gross names? So here goes…

Queasy Bake Oven - Easy Bake Mixes for Boys! - The Pomegranate Chronicles

I took some snack size ziplock bags, added the ingredients and sealed it up. From there, I put them in brown paper bags. Then I made cute labels with bugs and changed the names of the recipes to peek the interest of any little boy. Then to finish the boy look, I tied each brown bag with twine.

Which recipes did I use from the Budget101.com recipes?

Yellow Cake Mix became Yucky Yellow Mix.

jan2013 031copy

Snow Mound Mix became Snowball Fight Cookies

Queasy Bake Oven - Easy Bake Mixes for Boys - The Pomegranate Chronicles

The Creepin’ Crud Chocolate Mix stayed the same, cuz let’s face it, it’s cool.

Queasy Bake Oven - Easy Bake Recipes for Boys

Then, to explore what other things they could make in their oven, I used Ken’s Deep Dish Pizza recipe. I changed the name to Dirty Dish Pizza (I do feel sorry about this one, Ken seems to really know his pizza, but it’s for the kid!)

Queasy Bake Oven - Easy Bake Mixes for Boys - The Pomegranate Chronicles

I made two packages of each and also included a quick flip book of other recipes from EBOrecipes.com.

Cheesy Bake Hot Dogs became Tader Toes
English Muffin Pizzas became Brain Muffin Pizza
Lasagna became Lizard Lovin’ Lasagna
Quick Quesadillas became Quick Flying Saucers

I also included two of my family frosting recipes:

Fishy Frosting
Ingredients:
1 Large Egg
½ tsp cream of tartar
1 lb confectioners’ sugar

Directions:  Beat the white of one large egg with ½ tsp cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly beat in 1lb confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form. Keep covered with a damp cloth.

Cruddy Cream Cheese Frosting
(adapted from Cream Cheese Frosting by foodnetwork.com)
Ingredients:
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

 With all that packaged in a birthday bag, I think we did pretty good this year. Griffin loved them so much, he wants an Easy Bake Oven now! I better keep my eyes out at the thrift stores!

Happy Baking!

Reusable Snack Bags

Reusable Snack Bags

I’ve been eying different reusable snack bag patterns for a while now. I have plenty of fabric, I just needed the Velcro. I’d be bummed with each trip to Joanne’s, remembering that I forgot it again once I got home. This weekend, I remembered!

There are lots of sites with inspiration on making these snack bags. Craft Stylist and My Happy Crazy Life have great patterns and were the inspiration for my snack bag. These are super easy and took me about an hour to complete two bags.

Take two of your favorite fabrics (or what’s on hand) cut 2 squares 6″ x 6.5″ from each fabric (4 squares total).

Sew them up on 3 sides with the right sides together making pockets.

Flip your outside fabric outside right and insert the inside fabric inside so that all right side fabrics are in the correct direction.

Iron down 1/4 inch seam

Flip it down a second time a bit thicker than the width of your Velcro.

Flip the whole piece inside except the first 1/4 inch seam. The ironed line from your second flip down will give you the perfect line to attach your Velcro in the right spot. Measure out Velcro edge to edge on the piece. Cut to fit. I did pin the very middle to keep it from moving a bit. Be sure to do the same on the other side with the opposite piece of Velcro to be sure they bind.

Use a zig zag stitch to secure Velcro into place.

Flip project outside right, still leaving the 1/4 inch seam in place.

Your Velcro should now be lined up and in place.

Fold the second (that was as thick as the Velcro) back over to create a finished outer edge. This will make the Velcro flush to the top of the bag.

Then finish up by using one of those fancy stitches on your machine that you would like to try – or just a regular stitch will work well to finish it off. Fill them with snacks and enjoy! Happy Sewing!

Busy Night Phyllo Pocket

This is a super quick, Mom on the go, dinner. I like to cook this before knit club or if I am going out somewhere for the night, but still need to feed the family. It is very tasty, and the boys LOVE it. It can be altered to have lots of veggies but this way is how my boys will eat it…all meat, nothing green! LOL!

Busy Night Phyllo Pocket

1 Package of frozen phyllo bread (room temperature)

1/4 pound Boar’s Head Mesquite Turkey Breast

1/4 pound Boar’s Head Glazed Ham

1/4 pound Boar’s Head American Cheese

Your favorite BBQ Sauce, we use Red Bull BBQ Sauce- Memphis Style

Preheat oven to 400-450 (depending on package directions for the phyllo). On a cookie sheet, roll out one piece of phyllo. Evenly layer turkey, ham and cheese. Add BBQ sauce to taste. Add second sheet of phyllo to the top. Roll edges up to contain all the yumminess inside.  Cook for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Can easily be altered with broccoli, zucchini or other veggies. The next time I make this, I think I will try a marinara sauce with eggplant.

Super yummy and super quick! Enjoy!

Booties, Bonnets and Blankets, Oh My!

I finished the Cutie Booties and the Easy Peasy Sock Hat for my friend’s gift. The last piece I wanted to add to the collection was a blanket. I have seen lots of cute custom blankets around lately and figured there has to be a tutorial around that could help me make a simple baby blanket. I did a search and found this perfect tutorial at Prudent Baby – DIY Snuggly Baby Blanket.

It is such a simple and effective pattern. I wanted a light weight blanket for Summer or belly time. I used a bit more than called for- a yard and a half of flannel and cotton. To be honest, I didn’t even cut it- I just started to sew (after washing the fabric of course). Not because I didn’t think the pattern was right, but because I understood it wrong. For those who know me, reading comprehension isn’t always my strong suit.

With right sides together, I sewed all the way around with a basic stitch, leaving a 3 inch section un-sewn to be able to flip it outside right later. Then cut the excess trim after the first round of sewing. Don’t forget to cut the corners out as well to make it lay flat when you turn it outside right.

Once it was trimmed up, I turned it right side facing out.

I even used a pin to make sure my corners were perfect. This is a trick my Mom often talks about.

Then I ran the blanket, right side up, back through the machine using a scalloped stitch in a contrasting color.

I have never used a fancy stitch on my machine and thought this would be the perfect project. Turns out, I was right!

All together, I think this will be the perfect gift for my friend and her little baby girl on the way!

Cutie Bootie

This Saartje’s Bootees pattern by Saartje de Bruijn is a MUST HAVE in any knitter’s library. It is the perfect baby knit and the perfect use for remaining stash sock yarn.

They are knit on straight needles and cleverly written to easily shape a bootie. I used size 1 needles, which I have trouble with, they are a bit small for my hands, but I was okay with on this project.

I used some left over fingering weight 100% merino wool from Sunshine Yarns (formally NH Knitting Mama). This is the yarn I used for Bontemps cowl, a gift for my favorite Mother In Law.

I have a few other items I plan on putting together for a nice gift package for my friend. But these were my favorite baby knit of them all! Happy Knitting!

Custom Camera Strap

I love my camera, but can I say LOATH the bright advertising on the strap? In an attempt to make my camera more personalized, I looked up a great tutorial for a Camera Strap Cover by Design*Sponge.

This was a really simple tutorial to follow. I made sure to measure it just right (and maybe a little tight) to be sure it was snug up and wouldn’t slide. I found a few other tutorials as well, such as this one with pockets from Simply Modern Mom and the Scrappy Strap from one of my favorite blogs Make it and Love it. What I liked best about Design*Sponge’s design is that it is not attached to the strap. This way, I will be able to change it out as my mood changes (or it gets kid goop on it!)

I really like how it looks. I used some scrap Amy Butler fabric that I had in my stash.

It seems to be very secure. I also noticed that great minds think a like. There is a post over at another blog I follow, Caroline over at River-Girl who made some for Handmade Christmas presents, what great gifts!

I haven’t noticed it slipping around too much and I like how it adds a soft touch. Nothing like the rippled scratchy strap.

Ah, much better. Happy Crafting.

Heather Bump Dishcloth

Heather Bump Dishcloth

For a great friend I started a batch of dishcloths. I was shooting for my favorite pattern The Boxy Cloth by Leah Michelle. I thought I remembered the pattern, but I totally didn’t. Once I was a few rows in, I realized it was the wrong. I also realized I liked it.

So here is the pattern I came up with. I named it the “Heather Bump Dishcloth” after the friend they were made for.

Yarn: Sugar and Cream 100% Cotton

Needles: US8 (5.0 mm)

Directions:

Cast On: 32

Row 1: K2, P2
Row 2: P2, K2
Row 3: Knit All
Row 4: Purl All

Repeat until square.

The perfect set. Happy Handmade Holiday!

Handmade Holiday – 2010 – Kid Crayons

Handmade Holiday 2010 is in full swing at our home. This is a spoiler alert for my close friend and family members. I don’t think they will mind terribly if I put my ideas out there for other “Handmade Holiday” members. For the kids, I got so many requests for the star crayons that I decided to make them for the kids in our lives. I have been setting off the smoke detector in our home daily trying to melt enough crayons to make the demand of gifts. Yesterday I also got a chance to choice the fabrics for all the little guys (and gals) on my list.

I will be up to a lot of sewing the next few weeks. These bags are going to be so darn cute and I am sure a big hit with the kidlets.

Love My Crockpot – Pulled Pork

This is one of the easiest and tastiest crockpot recipes I do. It’s super simple. Place a boneless pork roast (1-2 pounds) in your crockpot. Add two cloves of chopped garlic, one small onion and 3/4 of a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce. We use Bulls Eye, Memphis Style. Place the crockpot on low for 8-10 hours. The best part of this recipe is the longer it cooks, the better it gets. About an hour before serving, take two forks and pull apart the pork roast. Mix well. Add more bbq sauce if desired.

Stir well and let sit for another half hour or so. We always serve it on top of cornbread. Such a yummy and easy dish!

Enjoy!

Hearty Oatmeal Bake

Hearty Oatmeal Bake is an easy recipe that will stick to your family’s ribs. I got this recipe from my Mother in Law. It is one of my hubby’s favorite recipes. It’s so quick and easy.

Six ingredients that are in most cupboards, vegetable oil, eggs, milk, sugar, quick oats and baking powder.

I usually throw it together the night before while cleaning up for dinner then throw it in the oven. By the time the kid has had a book and is in bed, its done. Ready for the next morning.

To serve, cut out a square, heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, add maple syrup (or we use Blueberry Maple Syrup from Stonewall Kitchen) and a splash of milk. I hope your family enjoys it as much as we do. An easy nutritious way to get your family started in the morning. Here’s the recipe:

Hearty Oatmeal Bake

1/2 cup veggie oil

2 eggs

1 cup milk

3/4 cups of sugar

3 cups quick oats

2 tsp baking powder

Directions: mix together oil, sugar and eggs. Add oatmeal, baking powder, milk and blend. Pour into a greased 8×8 baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 mins.

Enjoy!