Exciting News!

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I've written, and for that I apologize. You see, I've been in a rut lately. I've come to that point in my life where I'm sick of how sluggish and tired I feel all the time. I'm unhealthy and it is effecting my ability to create. So I'm finally taking the time to focus on making myself a better me!

What does that mean for this blog? Simply that it is being put on hold to focus on this with full steam. But you see, I'm inviting you to take this journey with me if you like... or at least follow along to my progress. I still may post from time to time on Bona Fide Boho, but for now my regular posting will be done on my new blog... The Clean Loser

 http://thecleanloser.wordpress.com/

Go check it out and find out more! I look forward to your visits!

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)

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