baking cookies

We've been baking cookies to give to gifts to people- just a little holiday cheer spread around... although we haven't been very good at getting them out the door yet, which means we've been eating cookies around here... which is not good... but hopefully we can solve that this weekend and deliver the bulk of them.

Not eating the cookies has been particularly difficult for me this morning... Last night I was having a lot of pain in my leg (OH NO! Sound just a little bit farmiliar??) No, really it's not that bad- but I did lay in the floor last night and promise not to eat any more of the cookies in the house if the pain would stop... after an hour this morning on the sofa with my trusty ole rice sock... I'm feeling much better... and it's been heck staying away from those cookies... :P

Happy Turkey Day!

turkey plates, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Hope your's is delightful!

Parmesean Chicken

Parmesean Chicken, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Baked Parmesean chicken with Spaghetti and sauce as a side.
Not too difficult to make- though you have to make it while your chicken is 'fresh' and not been frozen yet as this is a marinade type dish. Pretty yummy and healthy feeling.

spicy lime chicken

spicy lime chicken, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Yum.
We had this dish last week. It's from the dream dinners cookbook- I think it was better this time than last time... 2nd half of the batch was frozen for another dinner. I still thik that's such an awesome way to cook.

Looking around my kitchen it should have been obvious...

another plant, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

white shelves, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

utensil pot, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

plants from Matthew's birth, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

view down the stairs, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I need to start collecting plates!

here's the start- a serving platter, a large plate and a cake stand.

IMG_3735, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and here's a detail- showing their real beauty...

white plate detail, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

$3 window mistreatment

$3 window mistreatment, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Inspired by Nester, here are my $3 window mistreatments... $6 for the pair.

I'd wanted to put something on our kitchen windows for a while... my sewing machine doesn't like me though, and then the baby was born... how on earth was I going to sew a "curtain" under those conditions? (think I can cram any more links in there??)

Using free fabric leftover from a school project (a group of us were put in charge of designing a porch area for... some event here in town- I was somehow put in charge of sewing up all of the pillows and cushions), a glue gun, fabric tacks, 'L' brackets, and wood that was here at the house- I created these in a day.

my mistreatment tools, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Granted the fabric isn't exactly what I had in mind... I'd wanted something that had a white background- with designs in red, blue, green and yellow/orange (never could find it)... I still like the mistreatments quite a bit.

little how to:

I glued the hem with hot glue

nailed the fabric to a piece of wood that was 4 inches wider than my window, folding it like a present in the corners

screwed the "L" brackets to the wood

screwed the treatment to the wall

dream dinners

When we visited friends in Pennsylvania this summer- some of the meals she'd made for us were SO great- that I had to ask where she'd gotten them- they were all recipes that she'd made ahead and then put in her freezer, so that when we got there, all she had to do was defrost the meal the night before, and cook it when we were ready to eat. Wow. AMAZING! I thought- What a great tool for entertaining guests- and for preparing for a new baby!

So- When we got home, one of the first things I did was order this cook book 'Dream Dinners'.

While I have to admit, not all of the dinners have been a dream (We really didn 't care at all for the Lemon Chicken Asparagus dinner, or the Pork and Pears dinner), A LOT of them have been awesome- the Pesto Chicken and Ravioli? To die for. The Red Potatoes and Garlic Chicken are also a favorite for sure. This book also offers a lot of insight into freezing meals- the how to and practical information... and while before I was thinking I'd need a million and one glass baking dishes with lids- I found that their suggestion to line the pan with foil, freeze, then to take the meal out of the pan and wrap and re-wrap, not only saves you from having to purchase a ton of baking dishes- it saves freezer space as well. When you're ready to bake a meal, take it out of the freezer, un-wrap the WHOLE thing, place it in your baking dish and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator all day, or over night. PRESTO- dinner is ready after about an hour of baking time.

Thanks to this book, we've got a freezer full (and my mom has a freezer full too) of meals I've prepared ahead for us to eat when this little one decides to come.

The book gives you a recipe for a 9x13 dish- but I've found that often times we can use an 8x8 for our meal- which allows us to separate the recipe into 3... so that each recipe makes us one dinner for that night- and 2 dinners to freeze...

Now if only we had room for a huge deep freeze here in our house... :)

yummy juice

yummy juice, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Tried this 'Fruitables' juice last week- YUM. All juices- no sugar added- it has fruit AND veggie juice. Matthew liked it a lot too, though his drink of choice is chocolate milk. He doesn't know it, but every other glass he drinks is just milk added to the previous cups' leftover chocolate...

baking with dad

baking with dad, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

How's that for some father son bonding time?
Erik was sure that Father's day was this weekend, but alas, he still has some time to wait... what better way than to make cookies together?

my worker bees

my worker bees, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

yep. I've been taking the role as queen bee latley and I've been putting my worker(s) to work. "nesting" in the baddest way- as Erik put it. Everything has to be done and I want it done NOW!!!
Erik laughs at me.. "like the baby is going to care if the kitchen outlets are shiny and new! HA!" but ya know- to me it matters... I think a lot of it is me trying to finish up anything around the house that bugs me- I figure I'll be here more, and be less able to get tasks accomplished, and that is why, my friends, the paint on the ceiling in the bathroom- never bothered me before... but now it MUST be re-painted white like the rest of the ceiling... and it must be done NOW! THIS weekend.
With Derby this weekend, MAYBE I can let us a bit and we can just hang out and enjoy ourselves... I just know that we theoretically have 12 weekends left... and that at least one of those shouldn't be counted- because there will always be surprises...or because my belly will be too big, and get in the way of MY productivity. Two of those weekends are graduations for our sisters... and one of them is a yard sale (where we'll hope to get rid of all the 'junk' around here, you know- piles of stuff that didn't bother me before- but now it needs to get out of the house NOW!)... leaving us with...10 weekends!! A mere 10 weekends to complete it all...

sleepy boy!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So, yeah. I'm a slave driver for now.

Can't even swing around here with out passing out from exaustion because of the morning's work.

our *new* kitchen

through the door, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

as you walk through the door of our kitchen, you'll now be greeted by a bright color!! Thanks to many of our friends, our kitchen was treated with a fresh coat of Birmingham Cream this past weekend. The cabinets had a trim added to them, and all new hardware. It's amazing what a difference it makes!

kitchen, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

here's another view of the kitchen cabinets. As you can see, the cabinets are only a few shades lighter than the walls, I love it. I think that the kitchen can be called "finished" for now- but not yet complete. We still have to figure out some of the little additions to make it even more welcoming... curtains, 'artwork', small area rugs?? So many possibilities still.

a corner of the kitchen, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

this message board was a new addition to the mix- a nice little place to display some of the photos, notes and artwork from our little friends. This once all covered the refrigerator, but now finds a home here.
We still haven't re-hung the under the cabinet can opener... and I think I might like it that way... maybe a little laziness here and there isn't such a bad thing, it helps you find new happiness.

Thanks again to Frances and Lee, Mary and Bernie, Bob and Mary Jo, Stephen and Lillian and to Sara, who jumped in to help after a previous appointment fell through (or maybe it's just that she was trying to keep up with someone else...?)

another valentine's treat

heart cookies, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

brought to us on valentine's night- these were delicious... and are GONE. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

chocolate face, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

From our house to yours!

oops- we spilled the butter!

oops- we spilled the butter!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Baking with a todler is fun. As soon as you add that melted butter and turn your back, expect to hear the whirl of the mixer on high speed.