While at JoAnn's Fabric & Craft Store, I was looking at some quilting quarter bundles when I saw this really cute and simple "ABC Quilt Panel Kit."  As soon as I felt the flannel, I knew I had to make this for my cute little nephew, Cruz.  I've never been much of a seamstress.  My sewing machines have been somewhat neglected, so this simple project seemed like a great way to get reacquainted with them.  Since spring/summer is approaching I thought the bright cheery colors were great and that I would skip the batting.  I picked up a  few extra pieces of coordinating material.  Perhaps, I'll try to make a bib next.  

For dinner, I made a quick & easy beef stir-fry with broccoli and carrots with a little peanut, sesame, and fire oil.  Plus, you can't forget the sauce!  My favorite sauce is House of Tsang's classic stir-fry sauce.  While the stir-fry was on the stove, my  rice cooker was doing the rest.  We enjoyed the stir-fry over the rice.

My kids have called these "salad boats" for years, but the real recipe I use is entitled, Asian Lettuce Rolls from my copy of The Pampered Chef's Cookbook, All the Best (2003, p. 52).  It's a simple recipe that can be tweaked easily enough.  I can't always find Boston (or bib lettuce), so I use Romaine just as often as not.  When I don't have fresh garlic or ginger, I have substituted ground seasonings, which have worked well enough for our palettes.  My family also enjoys having additional soy sauce for dipping & using less of the sweet & sour sauce.  As you can see from my picture, sometimes I leave the veggies out of the chicken-noodle mixture...unfortunately not all my kids love peppers & green onions as much as I do.  

My family loves dessert!  So, I had thought since my daughter had just gotten back from camp we could enjoy a meal and then some dessert together (a bit later).  I decided not to make the same glaze that the recipe called for, but made up my own - a thicker cream cheese glaze to top the cake.  This is another microwave recipe, Quick Pumpkin Spice Cake from The Pampered Chef cookbook, All the Best (2003, p. 123).  My stoneware bundt pan is getting some use lately...it's been far too long.  Plus, nothing like a happy family feels quite so good.  Seeing their faces excited for some home-made meals and desserts makes it all worth it.  Not to mention, the things I have been making aren't difficult and don't really take that much time, either.  Hmmm...guess I'd better start thinking about tonight's dinner.  I hope you enjoy your day!

I never thought that my front living room should be anything other than what it was meant to be.  However, my creative self needs a place to make stuff.  Thanks to my husband's suggestion, I know have a new home for my craft things.  My new craft area is still a work-in-progress, but now I have a place all set-up so I can put my things to some use.

I seriously should've taken a picture of the awesome sandwiches and home-made fries my husband made us yesterday.  He made the best Reuben sandwiches...or in this case, they might actually be called "Rachel sandwiches" since he substituted the corned beef with pastrami.  Mmm...good stuff.  Rye bread piled with pastrami, swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing, and sauerkraut.  We had originally made other plans for our St. Patrick's Day dinner, but this worked out just great instead.

I did take pics of some other things I have made recently, though.  

• Pic #1: I made some quick & easy soda bread using DASSANT bread mix with lemon-lime soda.  We ate it with soup or white chicken chili.
  
• Pic #2: Microwave bundt cake using Pampered Chef's Quick Chocolate Cherry Cake recipe.  Not pictured: the added powdered sugar glaze (I added just before serving it).
  
• Pic #3: Banana, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Pancakes that my kids asked me to make again.  Whip cream & green sugar sprinkled on top to add a little St. Patrick's Day color.
  
• Pic #4:  St. Patrick's Day weekend needed some festive French toast!  Thankfully, I have a cute, little-bitty shamrock cookie-cutter!

Now, I really need to finish organizing my new craft area so I can post a few new pics.  It's probably time to get going on that now.  Wish me luck, please.  Hopefully, everyone has a wonderful day!

Using felt, I made some flowers.  I'm not even sure what I will end up using them all for, but just "felt" like doing something.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  First, trace out some circles using a bowl and a large plastic cup (or whatever you have around for different sized flowers).  Second, cut a spiral starting from an outside edge towards the center use scissors or pinking shears. (I used pinking shears on the pink ones, but opted for a smoother cut with the white ones.  I even made the edges on the white ones a little wavier after I finished them.)   Third, stitch the inside edge of the spiral from the center outwards.  Fourth, pull the stitches tight and work the material into a spiral flower as you tighten.  Do not cut the thread yet.  Knot it tight if you would like, though.  Lastly, hand-stitch the bottom of the flower together to hold its shape.  The white circles above are cut for the same size as the smaller sized pink rosettes in the photo.  I even left the pink outline on the white rosettes...I thought it added to them.  Overall, I think they all turned out great.

No-sew felted glove-ettes!  All three of my kids wanted fingerless gloves which they have always called them glove-ettes.  So, I made a trip to a couple local thrift stores and found some wonderful wool sweaters to use for this (and other future projects).  I ran the sweaters through the hottest wash & dry cycles a couple times to be sure they were shrunk as much as possible.  Afterwards, I cut the sleeves off a couple sweaters, made sure the seams and stitches were still intact, and measured to cut thumb-holes in each.  One of my daughters wanted pink rosettes on hers, so I obliged.  The other opted for solid color & no decor what-so-ever.  

What else have I been doing instead of posting?  Hmmm...for one, probably indulging in some yummy food.  I've been trying to cook and bake more lately.  Although I don't eat these foods every day, I sure do like them.  Home-cooked breakfast of eggs, turkey sausage, and French toast, a banana-chocolate, chocolate-chip  pancake breakfast topped with whip cream for dinner, and my sweet husband made me my favorite chicken scallopini dinner the weekend after Valentine's Day.    I am going to try to start posting more often, though.