Twofer!

Note: there is no picture for this because some foods, no matter how good they taste, are not meant to be photographed. Chicken pot pies baked in biscuit cups? Near the top of the list.

Using the dark meat of a rotisserie chicken I had purchased at Costco (am I the only one who hears angels sing every time Costco is mentioned?), I followed another recipe my husband had found on Pinterest for me. I was really excited for this recipe for 2 reasons:

1. I was pretty sure all my kids would eat it.

and

2. It let me use another pin that I stumbled on for homemade cream-of-crap soup. It was a twofer Tuesday, only on a Sunday.

I cut up the chicken, added the vegetables, tossed the dry cream-of-crap soup substitute in and added the appropriate amount of water. Since I used refrigerated biscuits, I just put them in a muffin tin, poured in the pot pie filling and baked according to the package directions.

Modifications I made:

1. I used the substitute cream of crap dry soup mix plus water. It was a win. It also makes an easy gravy base.

2. I did not use frozen vegetables. I boiled some potatoes and carrots together. I generally only buy corn (not a vegetable!) and peas frozen. Everything else I buy fresh. I buy frozen peas only because my husband and children love them. I really cannot state strongly enough how much I hate cooked peas. I'm a moderately picky eater, but I will suck it up and eat just about anything with 2 exceptions -- cooked peas and organ meat.

Yes, peas rank with monkey brains in my world.

3. Cheese? In a pot pie? Ok, I confess. Even though cheese in a pot pie doesn't compute, I didn't modify this because, well, I am a patriotic American. If I can put cheese in it, I will. However, it wasn't a noticeable taste enhancer in this recipe so I'll leave it out in the future.

4. I disregarded the "low fat" parts. If the universe wanted dairy to have less fat in it, it would come out of the cow that way.

5. I added sage for that late fall, Thanksgiving taste.

In other words, I used my own pot pie recipe and just used the idea of baking it in biscuit cups. But this would have been a really lame blog post had I just said that in the beginning.

This definitely goes in the make-again pile. At least the make-again-when-ignoring-carb-intake pile.

Pinterest Inspiration

http://www.between3sisters.com/2010/03/cheesy-chicken-pot-biscuit-cups.html

http://1orangegiraffe.blogspot.com/2011/07/anything-you-wanna-call-it-casserole.html

My husband, the meal planner

I plan, shop for, and prepare all meals in our house that do not involve a package of hot dogs or a box of macaroni and cheese. But I get in ruts, and we eat baked chicken, spaghetti, and take out for weeks on ends. How, oh, how do I get help? Pinterest!

I noticed my husband pinning different recipes that I know he has no intention of cooking. Should he have labeled it "recipes for Charlie to make me"? Perhaps. Nevertheless, it worked. I asked him to find a few he wanted me to make and tonight was night #1 - Chicken Enchilada Pasta.

And, yes, I like sour cream. Sue me.



First of all, the source is a blog called Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour. So, obviously, I felt an immediate connection to the blogger. She even uses the Oxford comma. *swoon*

The modifications I made were basic. I substituted the green enchilada sauce for all red enchilada sauce. The reason is simple. I grabbed the wrong cans at the store. Remember my proclaimed lack of attention to detail from my owl reverse applique in my last post? Consider this exhibit B.

Bonus feature: I used a $5 rotisserie chicken. I used just the white meat so I have the darker meat for another pinteresting recipe for tomorrow. Also, this recipe makes loads of sauce. My 10 year old suggested of getting tortilla chips so we can use the leftovers to make chicken nachos. I'm getting 3 meals for a family of 6 out of a $5 chicken. That is WINNING beyond what any warlock with a house full of hos could manage.

This recipe is AMAZING. All of my kids ate it (shock!) and asked me to make it again (awe!). I loved every bite of it, and it was quick and easy. Now, I'm not going to say this was the yummiest thing I've ever eaten, as my fabulous source opined. The main reason being that my dessert tonight was from the one place I love above all else, even above Pinterest. Costco.




I mean, really. Who could compete with this?

Pinterest Inspiration:
http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/2010/11/five-starsand-then-some.html

I like free

Repurposed t shirts are all the rage. In spite of the fact the stretchy knits are a pain to sew, everyone seems to dig the no-fray fabulousness of the knit. It's soft and comfortable but t shirts are often frumpy and poorly shaped. I, personally, avoid them as I have enough of a square shape without adding a squarely shaped garment on top of it.

But the best thing about repurposed t shirts is that they're usually free. If you aren't picky on colors and you have a lot of friends, you will find yourself with a ready supply. Much thanks to Allison, who snagged some beauties for me, here is a girl's dress made from a women's medium fitted t shirt.

Behold the wonder of my uneven darts! I didn't notice them before the picture but, yes, they are fixed now that I do see them. Let's see what went into this. The ruffles were super easy. I just cranked up the tension on my sewing machine and the knits went all crazy bunchy. They're really only there to hide the stitches I used to gather the sleeves up. I may take them off and add elastic. Then there are the darts. Two in the front and one in the back at the neckline.

And, hold back your jealousy of my mad skillz, I'd like to present the reverse applique. It's an owl. Consider it post post modern. Ok, look. I'm not what they call detail oriented. Anyhow, it's charming and my daughter thinks I'm the best mom EVER for making her a dress out of an old t shirt. And she doesn't care that my owl looks like he just got back from an all night bender.

Pinteresting inspirations:

Ruffle tutorial http://www.happytogethercreates.com/2009/07/roses-and-ruffles-t-shirt-to-toddler.html

Reverse Applique http://sweet-verbena.blogspot.com/2011/08/reverse-applique-tutorial.html

Stylin' Kit

Not all my Pinterest inspired projects are exacts from Pinterest. I was interested in tiered skirts but do you have any idea how much fabric you need to make one for a grown woman with a, um, full figure? That would be fine and all if you knew you would succeed but imagine using all of that fabric and ending up with an unwearable garment! That would likely send me in a sewing tailspin the likes of which we have not seen since the great needle break of 2006 (it hit me in the eye! Or near it. Or somewhere close enough to my eye to freak me out).

Enter Kit! Using some scraps that a friend gave me for free (shout out to Mandy), I whipped up this tiered skirt using my brand new gathering foot. According to a youtube video I watched -- which makes me practically an expert -- my gathering foot can gather the bottom piece of fabric while simultaneously attaching it to the top piece. All you have to do is keep them going through the machine at the same rate. Easy peasy. I mean, that lady on youtube can do it. How hard can it be?

That lady on youtube must be a master seamstress. That's all there is to it. Can I tell you how hard it is to keep the fabric from going all skee-wonky? Can I? Oh, how I wish I could videotape and sew at the same time so you could all laugh along with me.

But, never fear, we can do this the old fashioned way. Using the gathering foot with ONE layer of fabric, I gathered. Then I sewing it on to the top piece using a regular presser foot and all was well in the land of tiering.

Pinteresting inspiration:

http://www.kukyideas.com/journal/2006/07/tiered-skirt-tutorial.html

Behold the master (not me) using the gathering foot like a rockstar:

Pinterest is my muse

I joined Pinterest for the same reason everyone else did. I was slightly bored with my newest social networking time suck. But instead of clicking pretty pictures, I clicked pretty pictures and then I created LIFE. Ok, not life but a pillowcase dress, parmesan crusted asparagus, patchwork blocks, a repurposed t-shirt dress, the most AMAZING dessert ever, etc. etc.

Naturally, I started posting pictures on my FB page of all the things I made from Pinterest. Yes, I was that person. You all have one of me on your feed. My need to socially network, my need to create and my need to have my creations recognized were clashing and a blog was born.

I've CREATED LIFE! Or, well, a blog.