Knitting: Project 3 ~ Hemp Hat

I used The Rikke Hat (free pattern available here) as inspiration for this hat. I used another Ravelry user's notes (link here) to make the decrease for my hat, being I did not like the star like swirl the original creates. I wanted this hat to be for a guy and the star, swirl decrease look girlie to me.

This is a garter stitch hat (which in the flat is knit every row) but being it was knit in the round, it is actually knit one row, purl one row. It's a great slouchy hat and super comfy. I was looking for a hat to make from hemp yarn because of a request from a friend. Hemp yarn can be difficult with which to work being it works more like cotton and can be stiff. I was able to get a nice slouchy, soft hat from hemp with this pattern.

Front view

Back View

Side View

Close up.

Materials:
-US size 4 16" circular needle
-US size 8 16" circular needle
-US size 8 DPN
-Stitch Marker
-Darning needle
-2 Skeins Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (153 yards each), held together. I used contrasting green yarn.

Directions:
-With larger needles (I used two sets of US 4 needles, to make sure the cast on is nice and loose) CO 85 sts using the German Twist Cast-on Method (holding both strands of yarn together for entire pattern) *There are some great youtube videos on the German Twist Cast-on Method. I linked the one I used at the bottom of this post.
-PM to indicate end/beginning of round

Brim
Using smaller needles
-Round 1: Knit
-Round 2: Purl
-Repeat 14 more times for a total of 15 garter stitch ridges

Body
-Change to larger needles
-Round 1: Knit
-Round 2: Purl
-Repeat until hat measures 6" from cast-on edge

Decrease (switch to DPNs as needed)
-Round 1: [k2tog, k3] repeat to the end of the round
-Round 2: P
-Round 3: K
-Round 4: P
-Round 5: K
-Round 6: P
-Round 7: [k2tog, k2] repeat to the end of the round
-Round 8: P
-Round 9: K
-Round 10: P
-Round 11: K
-Round 12: P
-Round 13: [k2tog, k1] repeat to the end of the round
-Round 14: P
-Round 15: K
-Round 16: P
-Round 17: [k2tog] repeat to the end of the round (16 sts remain)
-Round 18: P
-Round 19: K
-Round 20: P
-Round 21: [k2tog] repeat to the end of the round (8 sts remain)
-Cut Yarn and use darning needle to thread through the remaining live sts, pull and close the hole
-Weave ends into the hat

Enjoy!

German Cast-on Method

Random Acts of Kindness: Day 2 ~ Out and About

I've been seeing and hearing a lot of amazing ideas for doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) or ways to Pay it Forward. I've been wanting to have my family participate in this for quite some time so while we were running errands, we just decided to start.

When we pulled into the Target parking lot, I saw a gentleman sitting with his dog and a sign by the parking lot entrance. I've seen him many times before today. I really only remember him because of his dog, which is a very sweet looking Pitty.

I decided to tell the kiddos we were going to start the RAOK today by getting a few things for that man and his dog. They loved the idea. It took us a bit longer than expected to get what we needed and by the time we came out of the parking lot, he was gone.

My kiddos were so sad. I wasn't going to let that stop us. As we pulled out, there was a gentleman with one of the signs for a "Buy your Gold" store. You know the sign guys, waving and dancing on the side of the road. Well, we just pulled back into the parking lot and I told my eldest to take a bottle of water to him and tell him, "This is a Random Act of Kindness. Have a nice day." and then just walk back to the car. She did it and had a blast!

Water for the Sign Guy

Well we still had a Dr. Pepper, some Goldfish crackers, some protein bars and dog treats. I just kept driving. I realized we were right next to the library so I gave the Goldfish crackers to my youngest. She went in (I walked with her) and decided to pick the security guard and told him the very same thing and handed him the crackers. She was giggling when we walked away. Her response was, "I love being random!"

Goldfish for the security guard at the public library.

Next we had a Dr. Pepper and I wanted my kiddo in the cast to just hand it to a kid walking. She didn't feel comfortable doing it, so my eldest jumped out of the car and ran up to a kid walking down the street and handed him the Dr. Pepper. I think the shock on his face was priceless. As we pulled away, my youngest said, "It's so nice to just randomly pick someone. Usually you only get little presents if you do something good or you get hurt and not just because." It made my heart melt to hear that.

Dr. Pepper for the kid walking

As we pulled on our street, we saw a family playing on the tennis courts at the apartments up the street from us. The kiddos decided it was my turn. I pulled into a parking spot and jumped out with the box of protein bars, went into the courts and announced the same thing and walked away. As I got into my car, I heard one of the kids yell, "Thanks so much!" When I got in my car, the kiddos said they were doing sound effects as I did the RAOK. I asked what that sounded like and they started narrating the entire event. I just had to laugh.

Protein bars for the kids at the tennis courts.

We had only the dog treats left. There is a path back by a creek in our neighborhood where many people walk their dogs. Of course, this would be the only day I didn't see a single soul. It was even a nice day out. As we pulled away from the path, we saw the neighbors that live behind us going into their house. I had my eldest jump out and give them the treats being we know they have a dog. Apparently, the dog was at the door when she ran up. They seemed really thankful. (I didn't get a picture of the dog treats...use your imagination.)

We didn't get to give to the guy at the side of the parking lot but that turned into 5 separate RAOK. In some ways that was really nice because it was far more random. We'll put together another bag for the next time we see that guy at Target. I still want to do something for him. My heart breaks when I think about how many months I've seen him at the same spot...so that will be another RAOK (only it's not too random since I'm targeting him).

All in all, it was super fun. It was a great way to kick off this idea. I saw many blogs of people that did it over one day for their birthday or spent one week. I think I want my family to do it throughout the year or for at least 30 times!

Random Acts of Kindness: Day 1 ~ World Water Day

This post was going to be on Saturday after tomorrow's post about our family doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK)...but today is World Water Day and I really want people to join the cause! All donations today are being matched, so a $5 donation turns into $10!

Our family made a donation to a wonderful cause featured on a friend's blog. My friend Mandy, is fundraising donations to hire well mechanics in India. It takes $550 to train a mechanic. One mechanic with care for 50 wells and that will bring water to 5,000 people. This is an amazing adventure and I pray they meet their goal.

Check out Mandy's blog: Houle House
She has already raised enough money to train 3 mechanics and is going for 4!
Give here.

Right now she is doing a raffle and the prizes are amazing. Some are local to Colorado Springs to receive the items and others can be nation wide. A small donation can make a world of difference. Please consider donating today. I am donating a hat I created to the raffle as another part of this RAOK.
The raffle is here and just message her the item on which you want to bid!

Today's Random Act of Kindness was also Paying it Forward. This blessing will keep on going. There are many ways as a family we want to do our RAOK and sometimes, like today, I didn't even leave my bedroom. A couple clicks today will help change tomorrow.

How to: Do a Dinner Co-op

60 Dinners on my Table!

I joined a dinner co-op created by a friend of mine. This is just the information on how we operate our co-op. There are many ways to do it but this seems to work for us.

• We have 2 groups 
• a large family group (servings are 6-8 people) 
• a small family group (servings are 4-6 people)
• There are 12 participants, 6 in each group
• Our group meets once a month for 3 months
• A small commitment works well so people are not overwhelmed if they discover it doesn't work for their family
• We meet one time before the rotations begin to fill out likes/dislikes/allergy information to be shared
• We have three rotations: Beef, Chicken & Vegetarian (or non-meat)
• We only make the main dish
• Each month, each participant is assigned one of the rotations 
• by the end of the 3 months they will have prepared one beef, one chicken and one non-meat dish
• Each participant, each month makes 5 meals & comes home with 5 different meal
• Participants can make 5 identical meals to share or not just as long as they follow their meal assignment (meat, chicken, non-meat)
• Our group decided to purchase Glad Ovenware large sized pans (just smaller than an 9x13)
• They are technically disposable but can be used over and over
• This saves the hassle of returning dishes to the correct person
• It also makes it easier than having to store or purchase 5 baking pans
• These are more reusable than the thin tin pans used for catering (which are truly disposable)
• Because we come home with 5 meals, most of the participants freeze their meals to bring
• Each month we have someone volunteer to host at their home for exchange
• We plan to meet for an hour if you'd like to hang out (a bit of a social time as well)
• You can just drop off your meals if you don't have time
• The people assigned to the Vegetarian meal that month, bring a dessert to share at the exchange
• Normally that would be 4 desserts to share with 12 women
• We only ended up with 2 at the first one and that was plenty
• The host provides coffee/tea 
• I volunteered to host the 1st month
• It was amazing to see my dinning table full of dinners!

Ladies chatting & visiting with coffee around the table.

At the last minute our group was short two people. We corrected this by having two of the participants be in both groups. I was one of them and the other is my friend that has a family of 10, half of them are adults! Therefore, I make 10 meals each month and come home with 10 meals! I love it!

I have a family of 6 and my hubby eats more than most because he works physically hard for a living 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week. Some of the "small family" meals need to be stretched but a salad, some pasta or potatoes seems to make them work for us.

This is my first time participating in this dinner co-op. I used to belong to one that we assembled meals together and all pitched the same amount of money. It took far more coordinating. This seems much easier and I hope it works for us over the next few months because I would love to do it again. It definitely saves me time and we thought it many not save us money, but cooking in bulk is a money saver!

Pros:

• I don't have to cook every evening
• I don't have to plan a meal
• Cooking in bulk does save money
• Making 10 meals in an assembly line was far easier than if I was making 10 different dishes for my family
• Right after this, we needed to save a lot of money quickly and having 10 meals in my freezer reduced the stress of the need to save

Cons:

• I did invest in the Glad Ovenware which was about $2.50 a piece
• Though it's not a lot of money, it wouldn't have been something I would have purchased
• I do prefer it this way because I don't have to worry about my dishes getting back to me
• One has already cracked to the point that it will need to be replaced
• I do not get to choose dinner
• I don't usually cook for an entire day
• Not everything is fitting for my family's tastes
• My family has been very gracious and though there have been a few they didn't love, they knew it was a huge blessing to me and finished everything on their plates
• I don't think this would work for a family that is terribly picky or has lots of allergies

New Recipe: Number 12 ~ Taco Bread Bake

I joined a co-op dinner group. It makes my life so much easier. I made this recipe for the group & for us. I found it at this Fabulessly Frugal blog when I was searching for good freezer meals. I'll share how we do our co-op tomorrow.


I, of course, tweaked the original recipe to my likes. We made ours a little different then the 10 meals I made for the co-op. This is the recipe to make just one dinner. I simply multiplied it by 10 to do for the co-op.

Taco Bread Bake

Ingredients for the Family:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 white onion
• 1 tbsp Garlic Garlic (Tastefully Simple)
• Spices: onion powder, chili powder, cumin & Fiesta Mix (Tastefully Simple)
• 1 can of Rotel 
• Cheese (for this Irish broad, we can only agree on a nice Irish cheddar which may not make sense in a Mexican dish...but that's us!)
• Loaf of bread dough
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Egg (beaten for an egg wash)
• Cookie Sheet

Directions:

Brown ground beef with onions, Garlic Garlic & spice mixture (I use spice to taste). Mix can of Rotel into the meat. Roll out bread dough and spread meat mixture in the middle third.

Roll out dough...use flour to keep it from sticking.

Meat mixed with Rotel

Cover with cheese. Cut each side into 8-10 strips and then fold them over each other (best to just look at the picture). 

Sides sliced to be braided on top.

Braided on top,

Sprinkle with Crushed Red Pepper Flakes and Egg wash. 

Red pepper flakes & egg wash.

Bake 350˚ for 25-30 minutes (just long enough to cook the dough being the meat is cooked.

Beautifully baked!

To Freeze:

After assembling (omitting egg wash until right before cooking), wrap in plastic wrap and then tin foil and freeze. To prepare after freezing, allow it to thaw completely, apply egg wash and then cook as directed above at 350˚ for 25-30 minute.

When I made this for our co-op, I altered the ingredients a bit. Our co-op rules are no spice and we also fill out sheets for allergies, likes & dislikes.

Ingredients for the co-op (10 dinners):

• 5 cans of refried beans
• 9 lbs ground beef
• Taco Seasoning (used my big container from Sam's Club & followed directions for the amount of meat)
• 10 can of Mexican Tomatoes
• 2 large bags of Mexican Shredded Cheese from Sam's Club
• 10 Loaves of bread dough
• Glad Ovenware large container

Refried Beans

Ground Beef

Mexican tomatoes (forgot the cheese picture)

Wrapped ready for freezing.

I did not do the braid for this large amount. I assembled by spreading about 1/2 a can of bean on the bottom, then meat and tomatoes and then covered with cheese (sorry, no picture of the cheese). I folded the sides over, wrapped in plastic wrap, flipped it so the seam was on the bottom and then put them in Glad Ovenware large sized dishes. I froze these prior to bringing them to co-op. 

The instructions included: thaw completely, remove plastic wrap, brush with an egg wash or melted butter and bake at 350˚ for 25-30 minutes (or until golden brown).

Knitting: Project 2 ~ Watermelon Fingerless Gloves

Watermelon Rappers

I've been wanting to do some fun arm warmers for my girls. I used Sweet Stripped Arm Warmers (free pattern available on Ravelry) as an inspiration for this fun project but then of course tweaked it quite a bit to make it work for what I wanted. These are modeled by my youngest (she's 10 but very petite for her age) but I have also worn them. I think they could be easily considered pre-teen to small adult in size.

Watermelon Rappers

Arm warmers, juniors gauntlet size 

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft

Color A:Watermelon (pink) 

Color B: Limelight (green)

Needles: US 8, 9" circular 

Knit bottom up and in the round.

With Color A, co 32 stitches with a long tail cast on.

Rows 1-4: [K2, P2] to the end

Rows 5-9: K

Row 10: Color B, P

Rows 11-19: K (with color B)

Row 20: Color A, P

Rows 21-29: K (with color A)

Row 30: Color B, P

Rows 31-39: K (with color B)

Row 40: Color A, P

Rows 41-49: K (with color A)

Row 50: Color B, P

Row 51-52: K (with color B)

Rows 53-57: K 24, turn work as if working flat, P 32 (working in the thumb hole)

Turn work back and forth for 5 rows

Rows 58-59: Rib 2x2 rejoining work in the round

Bind off loosely

Weave in ends

For the second one: I reversed the colors starting with Color B and ending with Color A for a fun funky look. It's like the mismatched sock fad ;)

*A couple of notes about this: I carried the yarn along weaving it back and forth in the stitches to prevent a solid line up the work. This did cause it to look like the yarn is pulled like a corset. I liked the look but of course you could join the yarn each color change to avoid this look.

*You can use any thumb hole method but I prefer this one so I don't have to seam later.

*I'm not sure how much yarn this uses, the pattern from which my inspiration came said only 80 yards of each color. I didn't make mine as long and didn't do the increases she had in her pattern. I would guess that mine used around 50 yards of each color making it a great stash buster!

Carrying along the string caused the stitch to weave.

Green or Clean: Project 2 ~ Adhesive remover

Adhesive Remover

We have an old Honda that needed a back wing window. My wonderful hubby found one but it was covered with window tint. None of the other windows had window tint. He took a razor blade and scraped all the tint off the window. The problem is that is left the adhesive all over it.


Recently, I had been on Pinterest and had seen several natural adhesive removers. I ended up using some furniture oil, Murphy's Oil, which is an all natural vegetable oil. I used an old rag and rub most of the adhesive off the window with the oil and then followed it with white vinegar and a different rag to clean the window. It took a couple of times but worked like a charm. It highlighted the few bits of tint left behind so I could gently remove them with the razor blade.


Here are some other natural adhesive removers:

• mineral oil, baby oil or orange oil (any natural oil, possibly even vegetable oil) followed by white vinegar to clean off the oil
• These are generally safe on wood and when used on wood do not need to be followed with vinegar

• white vinegar, it seems you may need to soak the adhesive for a few hours
• This is safe for most surfaces but because it needs to sit for some time, not usually best for wood

• rubbing alcohol
• This is not safe on porous materials such as wood. Works great on removed bandage adhesive from skin (as do oils).

Dating the Kids: Date 2, Kiddo #1 ~ Coffee before school

She went for the iced coffee & I went for a white mocha

My eldest had the dumbest schedule last week because the schools were doing the State's standardized testing last week. She's in 7th grade and didn't have as many tests as the 8th graders and therefore, the school didn't want them there until almost two hours after school began. It really wouldn't be that big of a deal except I needed one kiddo at school by 8:15, the 7th grade to her school by 9:35 and my kiddo with a broken leg needed to get to school to do testing at 12:30 pm and then pick her up at 2:30, get the 7th grader at 3:00 and the last kiddo at 3:30. 

The first day of this, I ran back and forth. The second day and told my 7th grader she was just going to have to go to study hall after I dropped off her sister at 8:15, I could not waste gas doing all that driving. The third day, I decided I would take my 7th grader out for coffee after her sister was dropped off at 8:15 and that would give us a little more than an hour to chat over coffee.

We got coffee and sat in Starbucks (my least favorite coffee place in the world but the closest to the schools). There were probably three or four other parents and kids from her school doing the very same thing. It was just perfect. We sat at a table and talked about everything: friends, homework, boys (yep...but just the one that counts), dating, careers and just life. We talked about our best friends moving away and cried a bit. We talked about my mom (who was very close to my eldest when she passed away 3 years ago) and cried a bit more. We talked about horses, she wants to jump horses and do barrel races for a living. We talked about what subjects may be very important for that kind of job to include the one she hates right now, Latin. She talked, I listened and then I talked and she listened and the we both just chatted.

It had been far too long since her and I had that kind of talk. I learned a lot about her that I didn't know (new information in a pre-teen world changes so quickly). I learned about new friends. I learned about the boy she likes (though I already knew who he was). I learned about some of her fears. It might have been the best date every. I can't wait till we have another. An hour over coffee can make a world of difference in a mother/daughter relationship during the teen years.

Reading: Book 4 ~ The Help

The Help

by Kathryn Stockett

To try to keep on my reading this year, I made a list of books that I wanted to read. The first three books were in a series and hard to put down, so I finished all of them in just over a week. Then I took a break for a bit. When I went back to reading, I decided to pick a book off my list that was on the New York Times Bestsellers list. I figured if that many people liked reading the book, it would be "easy" to read...plus I really want to see the movie and I won't watch the movie until I've read the book (the Harry Potter series being the only exception to that rule that I can remember).

I think this was an excellent book.  Though it definitely deals with civil rights issues, there is so much more to this book. The three characters highlighted in the book give it a nice well rounded feel. It depicts a time in the early 1960's and tells the story of two black maids and the white women that interviews them to tell their story.

It was another book I just could not put down. I read it over a few days. I can't wait to see the movie and plan on adding a little post about the comparison between the two though I have heard it keeps to the story fairly close until the ending. 

I would definitely recommend reading this book.

Dating the Kids: Date 1 Kiddo #4 ~ The Salon

Dates have been difficult this year. We have four kids and our third one broke her leg at the very beginning of February. She's in a full leg cast. Because of this, she isn't able to go school or really anywhere. She and I are prisoners to the house. It makes going out on dates difficult and really going out at all. She did finally decide this past weekend she'd getting along well enough to go to her grandparents. That meant this past Saturday, we actually had a day when just our youngest was home.

Kiddo #4 is a 10 year girl. She's our youngest. She has very fine, soft, fly-away hair. I have been cutting the girls hair for years. It's just a straight cut so nothing to it. Well, that wasn't working anymore for her. She needed body and layers and was ready for a more grown up style. That was feeling a little beyond what I was comfortable doing.

Well, it was time to take her to the salon. On Saturday, I planned some time to do that. I didn't make an appointment because I wasn't completely sure exactly what time we would be able to go. We stopped by a couple place with nothing available so we headed to the mall.

We went to a couple places and found a place that could get cut her hair in just under two hours away. That meant we needed to "kill" some time. The date was to be a hair style and a coffee but once we got to the mall, she changed her mind and decided on Orange Julius. We got our drinks and notice my brother, sister-in-law & my nephew where there getting lunch at the food court. We joined them and chatted while they eat and we drank our not-so-wonderful drinks (next time we'll stick with coffee).

Then we walked around the mall a bit and went into store she liked. We looked at purses and jewelry and other such stuff. We found some interesting snacks we like (didn't buy them but now we know where to get them). Then it was time to head to the salon. Her stylist's name was Star. She was wonderful. It was a match made in heaven and Star even gave Kiddo #4 a free bow barrette for her new style. I'm not sure she could have smiled any bigger.

It was a good day. I even made an appointment for eight weeks out, so we already have another date on the books (but hopefully another one in between). Hopefully when kiddo #3 gets her cast off, I'll be able to go on more dates with the kids. Until then, we'll squeeze dates in when we can.

The Salon.

Getting the hair cut.

Getting the style. 

The cute free bow

Explore Colorado: Place 1 ~ Mt. Princeton Hot Springs

Our family decided to take a mini vacation over President's Day weekend. We had recently been up at my step brother's house in Denver for his beautiful wife's bridal shower. The kids really wanted to stay the night in a hotel but didn't understand that by the time we checked in we would be sleeping and leaving (not swimming & having fun like they imagined). We had some really sad faces when we told them we were heading home. It took me a moment to realize why. Our kiddo #4 had really never stayed in a hotel. We take vacations, but our vacations are usually camping.

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs

We began to plan a little get away and hubby suggested Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. He had gone many years ago, but our family never had been. We booked a private cabin and then just days later, kiddo #3 breaks her leg and is in a full leg cast. We decided to go ahead with the vacation and thought if nothing else, a change of scenery would do her good.  We went up Sunday mid morning and stayed the night. We even found a little pizza pub in Buena Vista that was wonderful. I even got hubby to take me to the yarn store in Buena Vista and have some fabulous yarn for a future project.

Our Private Cabin

Inside

It had a loft with two queen beds

Beautiful view from our front porch

 Mt. Princeton hot springs are natural springs and they're odorless (which it a plus for sure). They have a nice creek that runs along side of the hot springs pools. The creek has little pools that have been made by rocks making little coves. We were even able to get kiddo three (with a trash bag on the leg) to sit in the creek and enjoy the hot springs while the other three kiddos played in the hot springs pool. It was really fun to swim in the winter and it even snowed Sunday night.

Green or Clean: Project 1 ~ Homemade Laundry Detergent

I added a new challenge this month: Green or Clean. I'm going to find 30 ways to make my family more "green" and make natural cleaners. This recipe is one our family has been doing for years. It's not only a great natural cleaner but also a HUGE money saver.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Front or top load machines & HE washer safe

Ingredients:

• 4  Cups - hot tap water
• 1  Natural soap bar (unscented) (I use Lotion Bar Cafe's Naked Bar. She doesn't have it listed on her site but you can send her a message for naked soap. It's only $5 & supports local small business). Most recipes call for Fels-Naptha soap bar. I personally like Lotion Bar Cafe's better.
• 1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* (Usually found in the laundry soap aisle)
• 1/2 Cup Borax (Also found in the laundry soap aisle)

Laundry Soap

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. (I use my food processor to get it done quickly.) Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water (I use filtered water to prevent smells-there is a lot of chorine in our water here). Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. Mine usually looks like jello.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use (will gel). I use empty gallon jugs (milk jugs work great). I make sure to mark the bottles with a red X on the tops & label the sides so they aren't ever mixed up as food containers.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. We don't do any because of skin & fragrance allergies.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. 10 gallons lasts our large family about 9-10 months. It costs around $15 to get started (purchasing all the materials). Then the next batch is around )$0.25 a gallon. It's around a $15/month savings for us or $175 a year!

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads) I bought a plastic measuring cup specifically for the wash and marked 5/8 cup on the side with a marker.

-Front Load Machines- 1/4 Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

-For odor removal, I add 1 cup of white vinegar to every load. 2 gallons of white vinegar are less then $4 at Sam's Club. I found this very necessary being we do not use scent in our detergent because of skin allergies. It will also work as a fabric softener.

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

I borrowed this recipe from the Dugger Family (19 kids & counting) from this recipe & added my own little touches.

New Recipe: Number 11 ~ Ground Beef & Sliced Potato Hot Dish

 Okay, I'm from the Midwest and I now I just gave that away by using the words Hot Dish instead of Casserole. I think the first time I said Hot Dish out here in CO, my friend looked at me and said, "What's a Hot Dish?" Of course, my response was it a Hot Dish. Well that cleared it up. Hot Dish is what Midwesterners call Casseroles...okay is that clear?

"Hot Dish"

Anyway...on to the new recipe, so I was struggling with what to cook for dinner one night and did a FB shout out for the mama's out there to suggest a dinner that used ground beef and potatoes. Just as I feared, the very first response was shepherd's pie. Not to say that shepherd's pie isn't good, it just isn't something my family likes. I have a hardy Irish brood (well and a bit Asian) over here and they wouldn't touch an English dish with a 10 foot pole. I used to work at a wonderful little English tea room and luncheonette and learned to cook several standard English dishes. Each time I've tried to make them, my family has revolted. My husband says "his people" fought long and hard to not be English and he certainly wasn't going to start now...whatever that means because his family though they may be Irish have lived in America for generations. Okay, off track again...the recipe.

I didn't find a great suggestion in time and jumped on Pinterest (evil sometimes). If you need an invite, email me, it's a wonderful site to store recipes, organizational tips and all kinds of inspiring nonsense. I found a link to this recipe, "Hamburger Potato Casserole" on Allrecipes.com looked it over and then created my own version and doubled it because we have a big family (plus I was hoping for leftovers because I was going in for dental surgery the next day).

Ingredients:
-1-2 lbs of ground beef (depending on how meaty you want it, I only used 1 lb)
-6-8 potatoes peeled and sliced thin (I used my food processor)
-6 cloves of garlic minced
-2 tbps Onion Onion (Link to order from Tastefully Simple)
-2 tbps Bacon Bacon (Link to order from Tastefully Simple)
-2 cans of green beans
-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
-2 cans of milk
-Parmasen cheese

Preheat the oven to 350˚.

Brown the ground beef with minced garlic and Onion Onion seasoning. Salt and pepper meat to taste.

In a pan with oil on medium heat, lightly cook the potatoes with the Bacon Bacon. They don't need to be cooked all the way but I like to cook them a little for texture it gives them. If you put them in raw, you will just need to cook the "Hot Dish" longer.

Potatoes to be sliced in the food processor

In a medium bowl, mixing the cream of mushroom soup and the milk.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Layer the potatoes, meat, beans, soup and cheese. I made 2 full layers, starting with some soup on the bottom (to prevent sticking) and ending with the rest of the soup on top with a nice layer of cheese.

Layered yumminess

Cook for 30-40 minutes if you precooked the potatoes. Cook for 60-75 minutes if the potatoes are raw (or until the potatoes are tender).

In the oven

Dinner is served.

New Recipe: Number 10 ~ Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

I just have to start this post by saying...I LOVE PINTEREST! If you haven't check this site you, you absolutely need to do so. You'll need to be invited, so if you need an invite, email me.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was fabulous. We had it for dinner, yes, I said dinner. Cinnamon Rolls make great dinner!

Link to inspiration blog post: Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring
*Her pictures are so much more fabulous

Ingredients:
2 Pillsbury Grands buttermild biscuits
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 c pancake syrup (I used Aunt Jemima Lite Butter)
1/2 c packed brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 375˚. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside (it almost looks like caramel). In another bowl, combine brown sugar & cinnamon. Pour about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan and then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top of that. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges to form a ring. (Inspiration recipe only used 1 1/2 cans of biscuits but I used 2 so they were very closely overlapped). Top with the remaining syrup and brown sugar mixtures. Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Ready to stick in the oven.

Cream Cheese Frosting makes is so wonderful.

Crock Pot: Day 14 ~ Chicken & Green Chiles over rice

So I was perusing Facebook the other day and a friend posted that she was going to throw something in the crock pot. Someone responding asking her what she was making on that snowy day. She replied with a recipe and then I snagged it, modified it to the way I cook and voila...new recipe.

Chicken & Green Chiles over Rice

Ingredients:
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
3 c of Chicken broth
10 Garlic cloves pressed
1 Onion chopped
1 can of Green Chiles
2 boneless, skinless Chicken breast
Salt & Pepper to taste
Flour & Milk (to thicken)

Cast of Characters

Put all the ingredients in the crock pot (except for flour & milk) on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

30 minutes prior to serving, remove chicken breast and put it on a cutting board. Whisk equal parts milk & flour (I did 4 tbsp of each) until smooth. Pour slowly and stir into crock pot. Shred chicken and return it to the crock pot to cook for the final 30 minutes.

After the chicken is shredded 

Serve over rice.

Dinner

Knitting: Project 1 ~ Rascal Market Bag

I tried out this pattern: Elisa Nest Tote

I'm calling it the Rascal Market Bag, because it was bit of a rascal as I tried to finish it! It's my very first bag and I think I see another market bag in my future...my own design & a trial is on my needles now.

I did not like how mine turned out...but I learned a few things along the way. First off, the kitchner stitch and I are not friends. Second, I like the applied I-Cord edge but disliked the I-Cord handle.

Okay, with that said, I made the bag and was 97% finished before I realized I didn't like it. The thing is I've made a pack with myself to finish all projects I start this year...ALL of them, not just the ones I like. It is something God has laid on my heart and as I have struggle this past year with being "out of focus" this year I am embracing the 30 different things I do without "focus" and the thing I do I will FINISH STRONG!

So the bag doesn't quite look like the one from the pattern I followed. I looked at a thousand on Ralvery.com. Some actually looked like mine, so I relaxed and finished.

The applied iCord causes the opening to be narrow. The kitchner stitch did not make a nice finish on the handle.

I used Peaches and Cream, Dark Taupe (from Walmart).

Not a great pic...was learning how to take pics of my yarn.

Finished Bag

Opening is small...not much bigger than this box would fit.

Bag hanging empty

5 lbs. of potatoes to see that the bag stretches quite a bit. 

This is really my first time blogging about a knitting project. I only started really knitting in September of 2011, though my mom had taught me a thousand times before then. You can find me on Ravelry.