Recipe: Chickpea & Kale Noodle Soup

Mmmmm... soup. It is one of my favorite things in life. Give me a big bowl of brothy soup any day! Now that we are getting close to those cooler days of fall, you may be seeing a lot more soup recipes in the near future.

This particular recipe I found on Pinterest (completly addicted to that site. If you're on it, follow me!

Anyways, back to the recipe, I was searching around on Pinterest for a good soup that is easy and cheap to make. I stumbled upon this sweet recipe for Chickpea Noodle Soup over at Fresh365. It sounded delicious but I had a few initial concerns that I felt I needed to adjust for my tastes. That is the recipe I'm sharing with you, but please check out the original! Besides being an awesome blog, it has waaaaaaaaaaay better photos! I have yet to master the art of taking photos of food. I mean, I can do nice photos of things with and SLR (seeeeeee... here's my proof!) It's just digital SLR's take $$$... and I'm saving for a house. Got to have priorities! (and room for all my projects)

DIY: 9 Halloween Costume Ideas

So it's getting close to that time of year where you need to start thinking about what you are going to wear for Halloween. I decided I'd help you all out by sharing some of the past costumes I've done that were a big hit.

Some are quick & easy and some take some preparation. So hopefully this can help to influence your Halloween costume this year!

 

Recipe: BLT Salad... in a Jar!

You may have seen this idea on other websites, even on Pinterest, but seriously... this is the BEST idea ever! 

Picture this... it's lunch time and you brought a salad to enjoy on your lunch break. Only to find out some idiot used the salad dressing you put in the fridge or even worse... you decided to add the dressing to your salad and it's SOGGY! Noooooooooooo!!!!!!

The solution... put it in a jar!

 

This seem like one of those solutions that should of been easy to figure out on your own. But lets face it, you saw it for the first time on here or some other website and went "duh!".

Now, salad in a jar is super simple to do and you can do it with ay type of salad os long as you follow this basic principle.

Knitting Pattern: Pocket Scarf

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!! Did you miss me?

Sorry I was away for so long, but summer is here and in Wisconsin that means you take FULL advantage of the warm temperatures & sunshine since in the winter all you can do is hibernate. Which is how this blog got started. I know it's not quite hibernating time yet, but I wrote a new pattern and just had to share it with all of you!

This pattern is 100% easy peasy. And it's for a scarf... with pockets!

So to get started you'll need:
2 colors of contrasting yarn Worsted/10ply (the amount of yarn depend on how long you want the scarf. One skein of one color will be enough for the pockets, you'll want at least 2 skeins for the body of the scarf)
1 set of knitting needles 8 or 9 gauge will be fine
A needle to weave in ends & sew up pockets

What you need to know: (click on the stich you need to know to be taken to the video)
Long Tail Cast On
How to Knit & Purl Continental Style or How to Knit & Purl English Style
The Basic Bind Off
How to add another ball of yarn
Blanket Stitch (to sew the pocket)
Knit 2 Together (K2Tog)
Yarn Over (YO)

Now you've got your supplies and you've got your how to videos in case you get stuck. Now you need the pattern!

DIY: Simple Double Necklace

This is a super easy and basic jewelery project that any beginner can do. All the supplies you can find pre-made at the store. (I found every thing at Michales)

What you need:
1 18 inch chain (the chain I got already came with a clasp on it)
1 24 inch chain (this chain didn't come with a clasp)
2 pendants that go together. I chose a bird and a tree.
A pair of Needle Nose Pliers

DIY: FIshtail Braided Bracelet

I love to wear hemp jewelry in the spring and summer. It mixes well with metal and looks great with almost anything. Plus, it's easy to work with.
 

What You'll Need:
Hemp (ribbon, yarn, or rope would work well too)
A button (optional)

DIY Wine Cork Necklace

 
I have an over abundance of wine corks in my house. Because of this over abundance I am always trying to find new ways to use wine corks.

What You'll Need:
Wine Cork
an 'Eye" screw
a small finishing nail
wire (I used copper)
a chain
needle nose pliers 

DIY: Marbled Bangle

Have I mentioned before that I love bangles and polymer clay? This is the third bangle I had made with my little clay experiment. I really like the marbleized look that occurs when you do this.

 What You Need:
Polymer Clay (preferably 3 contrasting colors)
Bangle/Bracelet

DIY: Coil Bracelet

One accessory that I am forever addicted to is bangles. I freaking love bangles! But every now and then I buy a set of bangles thinking that I'm going to wear them with some out fit, then I buy them and realize that no... I will not be wearing those with the outfit I intended for. Well, these have started to pile up.

Now, to stop my bad habit of buying new bangles I'm instead going to re-purpose them into new bangles. Tonight's tutorial is one of my bangle experiments.

What you need:

Polymer Clay (preferably 2 contrasting colors)

Bangle/Bracelet

DIY: Lip Scrub

I suffer from chapped lips all winter long. It seems that no matter how much water I drink or how much chapstick I put on my lips, they are still cracked and nasty. But not anymore! I've discovered the magic that is a lip scrub. 

What's nice about a lip scrub is that you can make it with ingredients found in your pantry and you see results instantly!

What You Need:

Brown Sugar

Olive Oil

Honey

A Small Dish

A Wash Cloth

Knitting Tutorial: The Basic Bind Off

Once you've completed knitting a project you have to finish your work by doing a bind off. What that means is getting your work off those needles so you can finally enjoy all your hard work!

Recipe: Apple Pie Baked Pancakes

If there is one meal of the day I love to cook, it's breakfast. I don't know why, but I could be happy eating breakfast food for every meal for the rest of me life. Yum!

One of my recent creations are these pancakes. I like them because you bake them in your oven so you have to time to make coffee and other items while it bakes. What else is nice, is that it doesn't take many ingredients. And there is a good chance you have them all, right now, in a basic pantry. Which means you can make this right now if you want!

What you need:

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup Flour

3 Eggs

1/4 cup of Butter

1 Apple

a sprinkle of cinnamon

a sprinkle of brown sugar

DIY: Spiral My Bangle

One accessory that I am forever addicted to is bangles. I freaking love bangles! But every now and then I buy a set of bangles thinking that I'm going to wear them with some out fit, then I buy them and realize that no... I will not be wearing those with the outfit I intended for. Well, these have started to pile up. 

Now, to stop my bad habit of buying new bangles I'm instead going to re-purpose them into new bangles. Tonight's tutorial is one of my bangle experiments.

What you need:

Polymer Clay (preferably 2 contrasting colors)

Bangle/Bracelet

Kniting Pattern: Gap-tastic Cowl

Hello everybody!  I must apologize on the delay on posts lately. I've been busy knitting and getting over a cold. But now I'm healthy again and to celebrate I thought I'd post up another knitting project.

This is a fun and simple pattern to knit. I knitted this cowl for my boyfriends mom for Christmas this past year. This pattern is written by http://www.heyjenrenee.com/. And is available on ravelry as a free pdf download here!

All you need is:
2 balls of heavy weight yarn (approx 153 yds each)
US 13 24 inch circular needle

All you need to know:
Long tail cast on
Join in circle
Knit & Purl (throwing) or Knit & Purl (continental)
How to add another ball of yarn
Bind off
How to weave in the ends

Recipe: Feel Better Soup

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't been posting too much in the past few days. I am currently battling an epic cold. I've been down for the count for 3 days now, unable to breathe out of my nose. However, today I have some energy & desire to share with you all how I've been managing these past few days. So I'm sharing with you my recipe for a soup that will guarantee to open up those nasal passages!

This recipe makes two servings, so put it in a big tupperware container so you can munch on it as you feel like.

You'll Need:

3 cups of chicken broth

1 jalapeno sliced

handful of bean sprouts

sliced green onions

rice noodles

1 1/2 lb. ground turkey or chicken

soy sauce

onion seasoning or garlic

Knitting Tutorial: Knit & Purl English Method

I personally don't knit this way because it doesn't come easy to me, but this is another way you can knit. The benefits of this style of knitting is that is easy to learn this method if you've never worked with yarn before. This is also the most common way of knitting, so if you get stuck on a project it's easier to find someone to assist you that also knits this style. The English Method is also known as Throwing or the American Method.

Yarn is "thrown" (wrapped) around the right needle before pulling the stitch through. This is a good method for teaching young children or people with limited coordination since you don't have to really have to hold the yarn in a certain way to make a knit or purl stitch happen.

The biggest disadvantage to this style of knitting is that it is a tad slower to knit this way, but it's a great way to get started!

So here is how to knit and purl english style.

Recipe: Chicken Enchilada Wreath

Superbowl is right around the corner! And for those of you who are having people over, this recipe is for you! This is a great recipe to make to fill up your guests tummies as it technically serves 16 people. That is if everyone only gets 1 piece. It takes a few minutes to prepare so get it ready before your guests arrive and pop it into the oven once they arrive!

 What You'll Need:
2 cups chopped chicken (about 2 chicken breasts)
1/4 cup chopped or diced blacked olives
1 cup shredded taco cheese
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies, undrained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Southwestern Seasoning Mix
1  tomato shopped or diced
1 tsp lime juice
2/3 cup finely crushed tortilla chips
2 pkgs. crescent rolls
salsa (for when it's done)
sour cream (for when it's done)

Thursday Night Unwind

Such a long week, or so it seems. So I'm glad to announce that it is Thursday night once again! And with every Thursday we have another installment of our Thursday Night Unwind. This is a great opportunity for all of you to experience musicians and bands that you may not have known of before this post. Granted this could cause you to max out the space available on your iPods, but oh well!

Tonight I'm sharing a rather unique band called Caribou. Unfortunately, I'm not gifted at being able to accurately describe music, so you're just going to have to push play on the video below. It's a song of theirs called Odessa.

DIY: Photo Candle Holders

So I decided it was about time I showed you all another tutorial for a gift I made for my family for Christmas. It's a lot of fun to make and I'm definitely making more!

This is a super simple and cheap gift idea that is guaranteed to make any sentimental person break down and cry. That is if you are using photos that mean something to that person. You can always use non sentimental photos, but I can't guarantee the tears then. Just kidding...

What you'll need:
Glass Candle Holders
Clear Shipping Labels
A Digital Copy of a Photo
Printer

Recipe: Spinach, Feta, and Turkey Burgers

If there is one thing in the world that I love, it's a good burger. It's always an added bonus if I can make it a healthy burger that actually tastes good. So I give you my personal recipe for my turkey burgers. I'm warning you, they are super easy and super yummy!

What You'll Need:

1lb to a 1.25lb of Ground Turkey

About 1/2 bag of Chopped Baby Spinach

2oz container of Feta Cheese

DIY: Dyeing Wool with Tea, Coffee, and Turmeric

 

I recently came into possession of a white ball of wool yarn, and I thought to myself, "Huh, how boring!" So I decided I would try my own attempt at dying yarn. I've never dyed yarn before so I started to do a lot of internet research, and what I found included a lot of crazy toxic dyes, all of which weren't readily available to me. But then I stumbled across this site: http://www.pioneerthinking.com/naturaldyes.html. It lists a bunch of natural ingredients and what colors they make. For the first time I was starting to think that this will be doable. And you know what, it totally was doable! In fact I entered this idea into a contest on instructables. Click here to Vote on it and help me become a finalist!

Yup, I'm totally being "that" person right now.

What you'll need:
Water
Vinegar
Coffee
Tea
Turmeric
Some bowls
A ball of white wool yarn

Thursday Night Unwind

 Tonight we have arrived.

We have arrived at another wonderful Thursday night! Which means we have made it through the marathon of the work week and are simply 1 measly shift away from freedom from "the man" or "the customer". Even better is the fact that my last shift before freedom is only 4 hours long.

So that makes me in a good mood. and when I'm in a good mood, I like to grove. My ultimate groove music is by Bitter:Sweet. The music is very big band and jazzy mixed with some smooth electronics to make a really fun genre of music that I have no idea what it's called. If you know, please share. The first song up for tonight is called The Mating Game (if you like it continue past the jump for more two videos!):

 

Knitting Tutorial: Knit and Purl Continental Style

This is how I knit. I am a continental knitter. It basically means that you hold the yarn in your left hand instead of your right. This method is also favored by many crocheters as how you work with the yarn is similar to crochet. This is also called the German Method or Left Handed Knitting.

This is also a great method for left handed people since you control the yarn with your left hand. However, I am right handed and knit this style. It's faster to knit this way since you don't have to take your hand off the needles to knit. Continental knitters hold the yarn in their left hand, which allows the knitter to simply scoop, or "pick", the yarn with the right needle. This is why this method is favored by crocheters since when you crochet you are always grabbing the yarn with the hook.

The biggest challenge with this style of knitting is the purl stitch, which requires a lot of practice to to comfortable and accurately.

So here is how to knit and purl continental style.

Knitting Tutorial: How to Long Tail Cast on

So I recently got a sweet little HD camera. SO I've decided to make the most of it and start making some knitting tutorials! If you have a request for anything knitting related, let me know and I'll do my best teach you! This first video is a quick tutorial on how to do a Long Tail Cast On.

It is my favorite cast on to do. It just looks really nice and is really sturdy. It creates a good foundation for your work and helps to give it a more polished look. It's also really fast!

Thursday Night Unwind

Hooray! I've made it to another Thursday! And the best part? I have Friday off! Unfortunately this means I'm working Saturday and Sunday, but at least I get to enjoy a Friday for once! This week I wanted to share with you some great music (as usual), but this band is really REALLY good! 

They are called Balkan Beat Box. It's kind of hip hoppy, sorta rasta, a bit belly dancing music... Oh just click play and LISTEN! 

This one is called War Again:

Knitting Pattern: Boneyard Shawl

This is a great pattern to knit if you've never knitted a shawl before. I found it very easy to understand, and as a us, you can use whatever type of yarn you like! You can find the pattern on Ravelry written by Stephen West of Westknits.com. He has a lot of great patterns, most of which are for sale, but this one happens to be free! You can download the pdf at the Ravelry link, westknits.com, or click here to download it.

What You'll Need:
Needle US 8, 32in circular (or whatever size needle matches your yarn, I used a size 4)
Yarn DK / 8 ply (or any kind of yarn. I used a Light fingering/3ply yarn) 3 skeins (654 yards)
Stitch Markers (it helps to put these around the center stitch)

What you need to know:
Long tail cast on
Knit
Purl (continental) Purl (throwing)
M1R and M1L
How to add another ball of yarn
Bind off or a Flexible sewn bind off
How to weave in the ends

DIY: Photo Candle Holders

This is a super simple and cheap gift idea that is guaranteed to make any sentimental person break down and cry. That is if you are using photos that mean something to that person. You can always use non sentimental photos, but I can't guarantee the tears then. Just kidding...

What you'll need:
Glass Candle Holders
Clear Shipping Labels
A Digital Copy of a Photo
Printer

Recipe: Killer Tomato Bagel Sandwich

So yes, I know that I missed this weeks Thursday Night Unwind. But you know what... it's ok because there is gonna be a great band featured next Thursday! Besides, I was busy getting some sleep because I was going to be awake from 6:30am on Friday to 5:00am on Saturday... that's almost 23 hours! And this little lady need some rest or I wouldn't have enjoyed my trip to Chicago! So to make up for it, I'm going to share with you all one of my favorite things to make.

This is a really refreshing and simple sandwich that is great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack!

What you need:
A Bagel
Some Cucumber Slices
Some Roma Tomato Slices
Whipped Cream Cheese (any kind will do, I used plain!)
Fresh Basil (1 large leaf should do)
Some sort of toasting device

Optional Ingredients (based on variations I've made of this sandwich):
Bacon
Red Onion Slices
Spinach

DIY: Harry Potter Golden Snitches

Having a Harry Potter themed party anytime soon? Then this will be one of the perfect treats you can serve (and it hardly takes any time). I made these for my friends New Years Eve party, which was Harry Potter themed. We drank butter beer and ate a big feast (fyi... don't eat a big turkey on a night you need to try to stay awake), we also ate jellie bellies (for the every flavor bean), And watch a ton of Harry Potter movies. It was quite fun!

What you need:

Ferrero Rocher candies

White or Gold feathers

Hot Glue Gun

Knitting Pattern: Transverse Cowl

Guess what everybody... I wrote another knitting pattern!!! This one is also for a cowl, but it has a really nice diagonal pattern to it. It's a simple pattern that again is just interesting enough to make sure you don't get bored. The diagonal pattern is created by doing an oblique rib stitch.

What you'll need:
Size 10 - 29" inch long circular needle
Stitch Marker
3 Balls of Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends yarn. (or roughly 260 - 360 yards of some bulky 12ply yarn) Mine is the color called Fern.

What you need to know: (click on the links if you need a video to show you how)
Long tail cast on
Join in circle
Knit
Purl (continental) Purl (throwing)
How to add another ball of yarn
Bind off
How to weave in the ends
You don't have to know this, because the pattern walks you through how to do this, but if it helps, this is a link to the stitch we are doing.

Thursday Night Unwind

Hello all! We've made it to yet another Thursday! This means we are all just one step closer to getting to that wonderful time called the weekend. To help you all feel the calm that the weekend can bring (that is if you plan on chilling all weekend long), I decided to introduce you to a band called Boards of Canada.

They are pretty hard for me to describe other than experimental electronic music that is pretty chill sounding. But seriously, when I need to chill out and find my zen or my center, this band does it for me.

First song up for tonight is Dawn Chorus.

Recipe: Instant Hot Cocoa Mix

A few days ago I posted up a recipe for instant vanilla chai tea mix. On the website that I found that recipe on was also a recipe for instant hot cocoa mix! It sounded so yumy that I decided to gift that to people as well. I originally found the recipe over on momadvice.com. It sounded yummy and I decided to make it for everyone! The only problem I had with her recipe is it didn't really say how much it makes.

So this recipe makes 4 quart sized jars.

Ingredients:
8 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3 cups sugar
2 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
1 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 (4 ounce) packages instant chocolate fudge pudding

Knitting Pattern: Chunky Ribbed Hat

This yet again another present I had made for somebody for Christmas (see, I told you I was busy!). This was a really easy knit and also really fast. And again, I'm including videos for the different stitches you need to know (I might as well make this as easy for you as I can). I originally found the pattern on Ravelry by Groovy Mom. If you click on the link it will take you to the original pattern. I pretty much followed the pattern exactly, except instead of knit I did a twisted knit. The reason I did this is because of the type of yarn I used. I use a brand called Homespun and it tends to be really fluffy. The twisted knit tends to give the hat more structure which was needed with this type of yarn. I also decreased differently so the decrease wasn't so extreme.

So to get started you are going to need:
16 inch circular needle size 10
Size 10 DPNS (for the end of the hat)
A Ball of Bulky/12ply yarn (I used Homespun)
A stitch marker

What you need to know: (click on the stich you need to know to be taken to the video)
Long tail cast on
Join in circle 
Twisted Knit Stitch
Purl (continental) Purl (throwing)
K2TOG (Knit 2 Together)
P2TOG (Purl 2 Together)
Bind off
How to weave in the ends

Recipe: Instant Vanilla Chai Tea Mix

This is something that is great to have on hand for those cold winter nights, but it also makes a great gift! In fact, this is one of the many gifts I mad this year. I originally found the recipe over on momadvice.com. It sounded yummy and I decided to make it for everyone! The only problem I had with her recipe is it didn't really say how much it makes.

So this recipe makes 4 quart sized jars.

Ingredients:

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

2 cups powdered non-dairy creamer

2 cups French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer

5 cups white sugar

3 cups unsweetened instant tea

4 tsp ground ginger

4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp white pepper