4th of July Headband Craft

I wanted to make something with my little one that she could wear to get ready for the 4th of July - I found this on the Parents Magazine website - it was perfect and easy, and best of all, she could help me with it!!!

What You Need:

• Blue Felt
• White (Sticker-Backed) Felt
• 2 Buttons
• Headband
• Glue gun

What to do:

• Make a template using thin cardboard (I used this explanation to get the star just right)
• Pin the template to blue felt and cut out two stars
• Trim the template down slightly (about 1/8") and then pin to white felt and cut out two (smaller) stars
• Remove sticker backing from white felt and stick to blue felt
• Using a glue gun, glue stars onto headband (in any way that you like)
• Glue-gun on buttons to the middle of the stars
• Let dry
• Celebrate!!!

If you make this, please leave me a comment and let me know - - I would love to see it!!
And check here to see places where I generally link up!!!
Cheers!
More later (:

Freezer Friendly Eggplant Parmesan

Here's an easy, affordable, Italian delicacy that you can whip up! Eggplant Parmesan!

I will not lie to you - - this is an EASY recipe. However, it IS time consuming and it IS messy!! But...you can make a ton of it at once and it freezes really, really well (making it perfect for quick weeknight dinners or even fast lunches).

Eggplant Parmesan

2 cups bread crumbs

Egg Replacer (equivalent to one egg)

2 Tbsp soymilk

1 cup of flour

1 large eggplant

salt

1. Peel and slice eggplant horizontally (so that you end up with mostly round slices of eggplant about 1/2" thick). Lay eggplant in a colander and (lightly) sprinkle salt between layers. Let eggplant "rest" in the colander for approximately 30 - 40 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, set up work station with three shallow bowls or pie pans. In the first pan, mix the egg replacer and soymilk; in the second pan, put the breadcrumbs; in the third pan, pour in the flour. Organize the pans one after another - first the flour, second the "egg wash", third the bread crumbs.

3. Rinse off each slice and pat dry (in a kitchen towel).

4. Dip each eggplant slice into first the flour, then the wash, followed by the breadcrumbs. Lay each slice on a prepared baking pan / cookie sheet.

5. Bake at 375F for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides, turning 1/2 way through. (These won't brown like you expect, but they will be crispy.)

These are good on their own in a sandwich, layered over pasta with red sauce, or sliced on top of a salad. When eggplants are in season, I will sometimes grab two or three, bake this up, let it cool and then put into freezer bags to store for whenever I want something "prepared" that can be pretty much just warmed up and eaten.

If you make this, please let me know what you think - and how they came out!

Enjoy!! (:

Hallway Hopscotch

It doesn't rain a lot in California - - and it's rarely as cold as it's been lately... But that doesn't mean we can't have fun inside!! (:
I found this on (...drum roll...) Pinterest (where you can also come by and visit me!) and you KNOW I couldn't resist!

It's perfect to keep my little one active and busy when it's too cold to go outside and play!
Here's what you need:
Ruler
Electrical Tape
Address Numbers
Erasable / Washable Marking Pencil

I got my address numbers from Home Depot - I think that they cost $2 or $3 for a whole set.

Since I have tiles in my hallway, I didn't really have to do a lot of measuring to make sure that the boxes were the same size. I did use a marking pencil (like the kind for sewing) to find the middle of the tiles where I needed to. I used the electrical tape (which we already had) to make the boxes, and trimmed them with a straight edge once they were overlaying the grout. You could also do this same thing by just cutting them to size if you don't want to take a straight edge to your flooring.

Initially, I just wrote the numbers in with the pencil, but after about a week, the numbers were almost gone. Instead of writing them in every weekend, I just went over to Home Depot and got the sticky house address numbers (which will probably need acetone or alcohol to get them off later, but...oh well!).

This has been lots of fun for Miss No-No and because it's neatly done, I don't feel like it's something I need to "take down" or get rid of if we have someone over. We have had this in our house for about 4 months now and it's in a high traffic area (our hallway!) and it's not showing any signs of wear.

The whole thing took me about 25 or 30 minutes to lay out, stick the tape down, and trim it up - - and it was TOTALLY worth it!!

See where I party!

What fun things are you putting in your house?

More later!! (:

A Week of Menus

I have so much fun with Halloween every year!! This was one of Miss No-No's lunches - the bat and pumpkin were made with cookie cutters (nut butter - I can't send her to school with PB, so I use cashew butter instead - and Jelly sandwiches) and the bat's eyes are raisins that I rolled down a little bit (with a spice jar), cut in 1/2 and then "glued" on with extra nut butter. I also used cupcake toppers as decoration (however, it looks like I took the picture before I added those in - lol).

Here's a look at what I have planned for dinners this week:

Monday

Chili and Cornbread

Tuesday

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Spinach and White Beans

Wednesday

Pan-fried Tofu with Fried Rice and Sauteed Greens

Thursday

Tacos or Burritos

Carrot Sticks

Friday

Garden Burgers and

Left Over Bonanza

Saturday

Dinner Out

Sunday

Pasta Dinner with Green Salads

We are eating a lot of greens and spinach this week. I got overzealous while I was at Costco and convinced myself that we could eat a whole HUGE bag of spinach AND broccoli - I have NO idea what I was thinking.... Maybe if I was feeding six of us that would have worked out, but with only 2-1/2 mouths to feed, we are having to put spinach and broccoli into nearly every meal!!

Here's the notes:

1. Chili and Cornbread - This chili is my mom's recipe and it's sooooo fast and easy: Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 T. oil, let warm, add in 1 diced onion, stir to mix with oil and let cook (stirring occasionally) until onions are soft, about 7 - 10 minutes, add in chili seasoning (I make my own from a recipe I got a recipes.com, but my mom uses a store-bought spice pack and it tastes the same), stir to combine. Add 1 package of Yves (brand) Smart Ground (a ground beef substitute), stir to combine. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add 1 Tbs flour (sprinkled over the Smart Ground), stir to combine. Let cook for 3 - 4 minutes or until all flour is dissolved. Add in two cans of diced / chopped tomatoes and 2 cans of pinto or chili beans, stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then cover, turn heat down to low and let simmer for as long as you can (at least 10 - 15 minutes). This recipe makes enough for four with left overs for lunch the next day. Served with cornbread and a salad, it's a complete and easy meal!

2. Baked sweet potatoes with spinach and beans - I "bake" my sweet potatoes in the microwave until I can get a fork through the middles easily, then I cover them with a little bit of olive oil and put them in the toaster oven on broil for a few minutes. In a saute pan, add some olive oil, some crushed garlic, let cook for about 30 seconds and then add in as much spinach as your pan holds (it will look like a ton, but put about 3x what you think you can eat - believe me, it will shrink down to almost nothing!! When the spinach has wilted down for a few minutes and is bright green, add in one can of white beans (rinsed and drained), let the beans warm up, add in some salt and pepper (and maybe a little nutmeg). Serve with sweet potatoes - or - slice sweet potatoes, cut out insides, mix together with spinach and bean mixture and then pile back in.

3. Fried Rice - this recipe has been adapted over time from a recipe that I got at RachaelRay.com. Basically, I take (pre-cooked, cooled) brown rice, put it in a saute pan, with a small amount of heated oil, let it get warmed up, add in some small veggies (diced carrots, peas, diced green beans or whatever else I have on hand), let them cook up for approximately 5 minutes, add in some soy sauce (or Braggs), add some sliced green onions, stir to mix it all up, remove the pan from the heat, top with some sesame oil (mix again) and then serve.

How was your Halloween? Did you see any tricks or any treats???

More later!! :)

Halloween Crafts

I found this idea on Pinterest, but loved it instantly:

It's so awesome and great for little ones. The skeleton's body is made out of Qtips (some cut and some whole) and then I drew the face and Miss No-No glued it on. We hung it up in a window next to our front door so that anyone coming to visit will see it on their way in!

It took about as long to do as it took to get all the supplies, but my little one loved it anyways!!

Here's what you need:

• 19 Qtips
• Black construction paper or card stock
• Glue
• White paper (to draw the skeleton's head)

Here's a great set of directions that you can use (if you need them)! Their skeleton looks better than ours, but I doubt they have a 4 year old doing their crafts!!

What fun things have you made?

More later! :)

Averie's No Bake Cookie Balls

I just discovered this wonderful website called Love Veggies & Yoga. The girl who runs it, Averie, makes all kinds of delicious things. While looking for a little sweat treat on the web, I checked into her site and found these amazing No Bake Oatmeal and Carrot Cake Bites. They are made with carrots and oats and are quick, easy, and (best of all!) delicious.

I wasn't sure if I could copy the recipe directly to my own blog page, so I just had to give you guys the link and the picture of my finished product!

Miss No-No helped me make these so you could easily make it a "family" project and revel in the fact that from start to finish the whole thing has seriously minimal clean up time!

What do you make that is quick and easy like this - - but tastes DELICIOUS?

Thanks for all the comments to my Roasted Mushroom Tacos recipe. It really is fast and easy and you should check it out if you need inspiration for what to make for dinner (and you have mushrooms in the fridge!).

Also - - Sarah from Shaklee and I are co-hosting a wonderful giveaway for natural home and beauty projects. Please stop by and enter - our entries are low, but the gift of a clean environmentally-(and family) friendly home or clean natural makeup is priceless.

More later! :)

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