Everyday mac n cheese.

Everyone needs a good mac n cheese recipe go-to.  This is mine.  I have others that I pull out for holidays--ones with crunchy toppings, fancier cheese blends, a little paprika, the whole shebang.  But this one is super simple, yet creamy and absolutely delicious.  And because it's a one dish wonder (unlike most recipes, you do not have to pre-boil the noodles!), it's perfect for everyday meals.

When I say it's a standby, I mean it--last fall and winter, I made it weekly!  And I've passed it around to so many playdate friends that we often get to enjoy it at their homes, too.

Everyday Mac N Cheese

adapted from Family Circle Magazine, March 2007

Ingredients   

• 14.5 oz chicken broth
• 1 cup + 2 Tbl macaroni
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 2 Tbl butter
• 2 tsp flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a baking dish (I use a pyrex 9 x 9 with a glass lid), place all ingredients EXCEPT THE CHEESE (sorry for the Internet "yelling" but too many friends added in the cheese before baking).  **When I double the recipe, I use a 9 x 13 pan and cover with foil**.  Bake, covered, for a total of 40 minutes, stirring after the first 15 minutes and again at 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately stir in cheese.  Allow to set up for 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Couponing.

I think the transformation to full-time homemaker is now complete.  I am officially using coupons in my weekly grocery shopping.  And I am saving a bundle! 

I've tried to use coupons before but always failed.  Miserably.  Does the following sound familiar?  Like a good little saver, I kept the inserts from the Sunday paper with good intentions.  But then there they'd sit, usually unclipped, in a corner of our breakfast nook, piling up, mocking me.  And if they actually did get clipped, it was on a rare occasion that they'd actually make it to the grocery store with me.  And even if I did manage to take them to the grocery store, I'd then stand paralyzed in the aisles doing math, until inevitably deciding that saving 50 cents off the name brand cheese did not save any money when the store's brand was cheaper--without a coupon.  So I wouldn't even use the coupons!  It's no wonder I gave up again and again.

So what's changed?  I'm using the website called The Grocery Game.  It's a resource that lists all of the sales, both advertised and unadvertised, in your select area store.  I chose Harris Teeter as my store--which I'd previously sworn off as too expensive.  But last night, using my list from the grocery game and my coupons, I bought $198 worth of groceries for $104.  I did this by stacking coupons on top of the good sales. 

Every week, the grocery game crosswalks all of the coupons that are "out there" from inserts or other sources with the store's sales.  The list is then color-coded to tell you whether the sale items are at their lowest price for that store's sales cycle.  You look at the list, reconcile it with your coupon stash, and decide what to buy.  You try not to buy things at full price unless you need them.  Instead, the key is to stockpile items when they are at rock bottom prices--before you need them.  That way, you're never paying full retail.  And let me point out that this is different than buying in bulk from a warehouse club!  Because although you may get your name brand toothpaste for a good price if you buy a four-pack from Costco, you're probably not getting it for a steal (e.g., .50 each, which is what I did by buying it on a good sale with a coupon).  Also, I have not paid over $1.75 for a box of cereal in over a month.  Do you know how much cereal the boys devour?    

As for how much time it takes, now that I've got everything organized (I am using Money Saving Mom's method to organize my coupons), I spend about an hour a week to put my list together and pull my coupons.  It took me about three weeks to get a good stash of coupons to use.

A huge reason I like it is because now I can have a fully stocked pantry without cutting back on all the fresh produce, seafood, and meat we love.  Although I cook five nights out of the week, pretty much from scratch, I still enjoy having some prepackaged convenience items, like rice packs, soups, marinades, and so on, on hand.  I am picking those things up at a steep discount--sometimes they are even free.

The service kicks off with a free four week trial.  After that, it is $5 a month for your first store and $2.50 more for any additional stores--they bill you every two months.  And just so you know, I'm not an affiliate or anything (though I believe there is a referrer program).  Just a happy customer so thought I'd spread the word.  And, yes, I know you savvy savers out there can cobble this sort of information together through other various online sources.  But I tried that and never seemed to find the time to pull it all together.  Plus, I don't know prices well enough to know whether a sale is a must-buy sale or whether I should wait it out--The Grocery Game does all of that for you.  So I'm okay paying $7.50 (I subscribed to Walgreens, too) for the convenience of accessing everything in one place.  Especially since last month I saved just under $500 (!!!) on my grocery and household purchases--and I've made a large dent in stockpiling our necessities.  If you give it a go, make sure to do it the full four weeks before deciding whether it's worth it.  As the holidays approach, I think we could all use a little extra wiggle room in our budgets.

 

Icee cozie with a short how-to.

      

Although I bake treats nearly every day for my brood, do you know what works them into a tizzy without fail?  Icee pops.  Yes, the artificial flavored water you can always find at the dollar store.  I like to think it's because I don't let the boys eat them too often.  But honestly, it's probably because I went a little heavy on the flax in the most recent round of muffins.

So.  They love icee pops but won't hold them because they are ICE and thus--yup--freezing.  Sick of paper towels constantly unwrapping (not to mention the waste because I finally switched the household to cloth napkins) I whipped up some cozies out of craft felt.  I made a dozen or so for our neighborhood Labor Day block party.  But then it started raining and the entire party moved indoors (as in our indoors) so I put the kibosh on the icee pops. 

I meant to make these all season but never got to it.  And I just should have done it because the cozies took all of 12 minutes to make.  Since summer is technically over (sniff), instead of looking at this as something I never got to, I'm going to spin it as "wow, I already crossed something off my summer craft list for next year." 

 1.  Find some spare felt.  I have a ton of acrylic felt laying around because I'm hooked on using wool felt for most of our crafts.

2.  Determine how wide to make the cozies.  There are wide and skinny icees--go figure.  We have somehow acquired both so I marked accordingly.  You certainly could just wing this but I knew I'd forget to make different widths.  I swear my short-term memory has still not recovered from my pregnancies.

3.  Sew.  I used a bright colored thread in a wide zig zag for contrast.  That is as fancy as I got.

4.  You need two rows of stitches on the inside lines because you will cut between them (see below).  

5.  Cut your cozies apart.  Up to you whether to stitch the bottoms closed (I did).

6.  Put the icees into the cozies...now they are ready for little fingers.

Happy day.

So Rachel over on One Pretty Thing linked to my post on reverse applique!  I'm sure many of you visit her wonderful blog several times a day, just as I do.  It's really my lifeline to checking out so many amazing, and usually new-to-me, blogs.  I am simply over the moon to be included!  And I've just received a few emails asking where's my follower link or email feed.  What?!  Well, that requires an upgrade to my basic squarespace account but I think I'll do it--thanks for the suggestions.  I also need to figure out how to put her cute button on my sidebar.  I am so computer challenged it is sad.  But I don't care because I was featured on One Pretty Thing.  And yes, I've already said that aloud to no one in particular as I shrugged off a bugaboo that would normally make me crazy.

In case I don't post before the weekend, happy Labor Day!

      

Update on Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 9:31PM by Sandra

ETA:  I did add a followers link and an email subscription service--check the sidebars.

Art organization.

If you are like me, you cherish your children's artwork but struggle with the sheer quantity that accumulates.  At the end of the year we try to file away special pieces--each child has his own flat storage box that keeps things sorted and safe until later.  And by later I mean until they are in their 30s and I'm pestering them to clear out their rooms because their dad and I are downsizing in our retirement.  And we're buying a fabo townhouse in the city!  Where we'll walk to everything!!  And we won't need much space because we'll be out and about traveling and visiting our kid's kids!!!  And we'll.....oh, wait.   

Back to a mountain of art, bless their little creative hearts.  Before the purge, this is where a lot of the artwork lives.

 

I'm sure you've seen it before.  It's a couple of affordable curtain rods (mine are from Ikea) and curtain clips, hung on a wall in our basement play room.  And just so you know, I fought every fiber of my perfectionist-being to not sort that rod and instead shoot a picture of its jumbled reality.  As you can see, you can fit a ton on there and there are some favorites that the boys have deemed evergreen, or appropriate for any season, that they will not let me take down.

Recently, I've seen some blog posts on additional art storage/display ideas, which have sparked some thoughts of my own.  But first I need to hit up some thrift stores, so my grand plans will have to sit until the smallest two munchkins start preschool and pre-K.  Which, in case you're counting, is in 7 days and 17 hours.  And yes, I'm a little freaked about baby Will starting preschool.

More t-shirt embellishing.

Our oldest, Max, started first grade a few weeks ago.  And according to him, it's much different than kindergarten.  Every day when he gets home, he tells me it is really, really hard--the reading, the writing workshops, the lack of snack time, so on.  Max generally handles whatever is thrown his way, so I'm surprised to see his new routine wipe him out each day.  Often, he collapses and curls up on the couch for a few minutes as I get his snack ready.  He always asks for one thing as he decompresses--his stuffed dog, Clifford.  Clifford joined our family when Max was a baby and it quickly became his lovie.  And although Max is in a proud "I'm a big boy, not a baby!" stage, he has not outgrown Clifford.  He even gave Clifford a family--two baby Clifford children and another stuffed puppy for a wife.  Here is a picture Clifford "took" of Max and Clifford's family after Clifford's wedding.  Yes, there were invitations.  And yes, I did the flowers.

 

Max's kindergarten teacher let the kids bring in special items to make the transition easier, so it was not uncommon for Clifford to hitch a ride to school in Max's backpack.  But so far, there has not been an opportunity for Clifford to check out first grade.  And I can assure you that Max is not going to suggest it because he thinks you don't do such a thing in first grade.

So, I took a red t-shirt that I picked up because I liked its weathered, washed finish, and machine stitched a familiar image onto it.  This way, Max can at least take Clifford's likeness to school on any day he should want his faithful friend by his side.  It makes us both smile.

I used my phone-book paper method, so see my previous post for a full tutorial.  But in a nutshell, I traced Clifford's outline onto a sheet of phone-book paper.  I pinned my paper onto the t-shirt, which was reinforced with some lightweight adhesive stabilizer underneath (because the fabric was super stretchy).  I machine stitched a straight line (using a short stitch to perforate the paper) following my tracing.  I ripped off the paper and then went back over the stitches with a tight zig-zag (I found if I zig-zagged directly onto the paper, it caught too much paper within the stitches).  I used black fabric paint to fill in Clifford's eyes and collar.  And as I post this picture, I see that I forgot to fill in his nose so off I go to remedy that.   

Tutorial: Reverse applique using recycled phone book pages.

      

I'm a big fan of reverse applique--it's so fast and easy.  Usually I trace an image onto my outer fabric using a water-soluble pen, but when I'm altering a dark fabric, it's hard to see any markings.  So on dark fabrics, I usually make a paper template of the image, pin it to the outer fabric, and stitch around it.  But sometimes that doesn't work too well--it can be hard to negotiate around fairly intricate shapes even if you do pin down all the edges.

Last week, Leo and I decided to embellish some plain tees and we didn't get around to making them until the very end of Will's nap.  Trying to save time, I decided to just stitch right onto my printed image (rather than cutting it out beforehand) then rip away the paper--sort of like paper piecing on a temporary foundation if you've ever done that in quilting.  My first attempt was okay, but I used plain computer paper and discovered it was too thick, leaving too many bits of paper caught in the stitches. 

So, on my hunt to find a thinner paper (but not use up my precious tear-away stabilizer stash), I came across an old phonebook destined for the recycling bin.

Pages from it worked great--the paper tore away nice and clean.  But there are a few things to note.  I keep a needle set aside to use on paper only.  Sewing through paper really dulls a needle, so although I know you should use a ball-point needle on knits, I end up using whatever my "paper" needle is at the time (I'm usually altering what would otherwise be donated, stained tees, so I don't fuss around too much and just dive in).  Make sure to use a fairly short stitch as it will help to perforate the paper, making it tear away easily.  Also, I rubbed my finger on the phonebook page to make sure that the ink wouldn't rub off like crazy.  It didn't.  But still, this might not be the best medium to use if altering a light colored garment.

You will need:

Clothing to alter

Desired image traced onto thin paper like phone book pages

Contrast scrap of fabric larger than your image

Straight pins

Sewing machine

For inspiration, I usually do a Google image search for whatever it is that the boys would like on their shirt.  I then hand draw it onto the paper.  You could also trace it over a light box but since I don't have one, I am often found tracing against a window.  This time I traced a puzzle piece.

 

Be sure to use a color you can easily see.  I do not have a see-through sewing foot so I like to trace my image in bright red.   

 Pick out your contrast fabric and decide on where you want to place your applique. I often like to center them, but if it's your first time, you might want to pick an off-center spot so you don't have to worry about precise placement--a lower front corner always looks nice.    

Place your contrast fabric, right side up, beneath your desired applique spot.  Place your paper template on top, makiing sure the contrast fabric is beneath all of your traced lines.  Pin, catching all three layers:  your paper, the garment, and the contrast fabric.

Set a short stitch length on your machine to really perforate the paper to make it tear away easily.  Stitch directly onto your 'sandwich' following the outline of your image, removing pins as necessary.  Don't forget to backstitch at the start and finish.

Gently tear the paper, pulling away from the stitches, not across.    

Using small detail scissors, carefully cut away the top fabric to reveal the contrast fabric.  Cut close to the stitched line but you want to leave a little bit of the top fabric so your stitches don't pull through.

Your edges will look a little imperfect until you launder the garment.  After washing it, the knit fabric will curl back for a nice effect.

Trim the contrast fabric from the back.  I like to use pinking shears. 

Now give it to the patiently waiting munchkin to wear! Oh, and we did a rocket too.

Have fun!

Cupcakes at hand.

Cupcakes.  Who doesn't love cupcakes?  I have been a huge fan (some would say pusher) well before boutique bakeries opened on every corner and made them trendy.  I like to always have the option of breaking some out for even the most impromptu of celebrations.  Here's my not-so-secret secret--they freeze beautifully.

When I make a batch, I set aside a half dozen for us to enjoy right away (naturally).  Then, I freeze the remaining dozen and a half from a standard batch--frosted and all (I like to put them back in the baking tin after they are frosted to set up in the freezer).  Once frozen (the frosting will get firm but never rock hard), I pop them into a ziploc to be handy as needed.  If you do this, just be sure to take them out of the ziploc while still frozen and allow to thaw at room temperature to keep the frosting lovely.  So, you just remembered tomorrow's school party?  No problem.  Spontaneous neighborhood happy hour?  Bring it.

If you make your cupcakes with fresh ingredients, I would not let them go in the freezer for more than 30 days (actually, we've never even come close to the 30 day mark--they get eaten up like crazy--so that's sort of a guess).  Oh, and another tip.  Next time you're shopping at a craft store, pick up an oversized frosting tip--I can frost two dozen cupcakes in no time with one of those!

Book love.

I am so excited to get this book! I have to ration my Amazon book purchases because, you know, we're living off one salary these days and groceries are supposedly more important.  But, man, is it hard!  I can go without the trendy clothes I used to load up on because I still get my retail therapy fix by dressing the boys in cute gear.  And besides, do I really need to dress up to go to the park, the grocery store, the elementary school, or the doctor's office?  Um, no.  But books.  Oh, books.  I just adore them and have a hard time resisting them, especially cooking and crafting books. I usually check them out of the library first to see whether I really want to buy them.  But with Amanda Blake Soule's newest book, Handmade Home, I just went ahead and ordered it.  I loved her first book, The Creative Family, so much that I knew I'd want her latest.  I'll hopefully post about some creations soon--I want to get a head start on Christmas presents (yea, right--but a girl can dream).  And yes, the UPS man thinks I'm a crazy stalker lady because whenever he turns into our neighborhood I am out front waving to him because I assume he's bringing me this book.  Tracking info says tomorrow!

Favorite Lemon Bar No. 2.

The boys love, love, love lemon bars--which makes me laugh.  I mean, I love lemon bars, too.  But I'm pretty sure I didn't discover just how much until well into my college years.  Before that it was all chocolate, all the time--it often still is but now I love just about every dessert.  In fact, I am the absolute worst person to be with when it's time to order dessert.  As I look over the menu, the convo in my head goes something like this, "oooh, chocolate molten cake.  Hmmm.  But I've had that a gazillion times.  Ohhh, blackberry fool.  Yum!  I love berries.  Oh! Oh! Oh!!!! Burnt sugar flan with coconut sauce.  That sounds amazing--and different.  But then there's a banana bread pudding--you can't go wrong with a bread pudding."  And so it goes, round and round, my own version of dessert roulette until someone makes me choose.  But in the end, I actually don't choose.  I just go with wherever my mental ball lands when the waiter arrives, declaring the choice in a flustered manner with my eyes shut tight, scared stiff that I'm making the wrong choice.  My poor husband. 

Anyhoo.  Back to lemon bars.

The boys like to bake with me and one of our past favorite lemon bar recipes called for cutting in chilled butter for the crust dough.  I'll go ahead and pass on that when cooking with children.  So I started looking for a new recipe that still gave us a to-die-for crust without fussing with airborne butter (more specifically, butter bits flicked by a four-year-old with remarkable aim). 

 

I found one that used softened butter and brown sugar.  You give up the flaky, shortbread crust you get with the cut-in cold butter.  But you get a nice, chewy crust--almost carmelized--due to the brown sugar and softened butter.  The filling could be tarter in my opinion so I plan to tweak that a bit.  I did not have enough lemon juice for the recipe, so I added some lime juice.  Maybe that made a big difference?  Next time, I will play around and add at least another 1/4 cup of lemon juice (or maybe lime juice--I liked the flavor it brought).  I think with all the eggs, the filling will still set up, as it was plenty firm.

Lemon Bars (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, May 2008)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 6 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar (*I used less, about 2 cups total)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (*I'm going for a generous 1/2 cup next time, plus the juice of one lime)
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 13x9x2-inch pan with heavy foil; set aside.
2. For crust, in large mixing bowl, hand beat softened butter with wood spoon then add brown sugar, beating until combined.  Beat in 2 cups flour until crumbly.  Evenly press on bottom of prepared pan.  Bake 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, for filling:  in medium bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, remaining 1/2 cup flour, lemon/lime juice, and baking powder.  Beat until well blended.  Remix right before pouring onto hot crust.  Bake 20 minutes more or until edges are browned and center appears set.
4. Remove to rack, allowing to cool in pan for 1 hour.  Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours.  To serve, lift from pan using foil and cut into bars.
5. Store, covered, in refrigerator up to 3 days.

Enjoy!