Menu Plan - May 29

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day! Ours was very peaceful and relaxing.  : )


Here is our menu for the week:

Monday - Nachos, grilled shrimp, sausages, potatoes, broccoli, and corn on the cob

Tuesday - Tomato-basil pasta and spinach salad

Wednesday - Bourbon chicken, brown rice, and green beans

Thursday - I have Bible study, so probably just sandwiches or something quick

Friday - Chili and cornbread

Animal crackers

I embarked on a little baking adventure with Titus this afternoon. We made animal crackers (from my Kinder Krunchies cookbook) for an afternoon snack. It was pretty messy, and I had to work to control my adult perfectionistic tendencies and just let Titus do his thing ; ) But I think it was a fun project for both of us. Here is some photo documentation of the experience.

Titus mixing the dough with his hands

Cutting out shapes (we don't have any animal cookie cutters, so we just used the cookie cutters we had on hand)

The crackers before going into the oven

Titus helping to clean up : )

The crackers after being baked

I changed some things a little, so here is the recipe with my modifications.

Combine:

1/2 cup oatmeal (ground in a blender until fine)
6 TBSP whole wheat flour
6TBSP white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Add 1 TBSP honey and stir well

Add 1/4 cup softened butter and use your hands to work the butter into the flour mixture until you have a crumbly, uniform mixture.

Add 1/4 cup buttermilk (I used regular milk with a splash of lemon juice added)

Turn onto a floured surface and roll very thin. My dough was pretty sticky, so I needed to incorporate a lot of flour to make it workable.

Cut out with cookie cutters, animal ones if you have them.

Bake at 400 degrees for 9 minutes (until slightly brown around the edges)


I thought these crackers turned out really well! They had an interesting texture from the oatmeal, and the honey gave them just a little sweetness. One recipe made about 50 little cookies for us, but I think you would get a higher yield if you weren't working with a messy one-year-old ; )

Scripture Quilt

   This project has been consuming a lot of my time lately, and I am glad it is finished and has been delivered to the recipient!  I am more of an instant gratification sewer, so making even a small lap quilt was a monumental project for me ; )

   I made this quilt for my grandmother, and had originally intended to give it to her for her birthday (May 1st), but I wasn't able to finish it in time, so I gave it to her on Mother's Day instead : ) It is a combination of nine-patch quilt blocks and snowball quilt blocks. I hand embroidered some of my favorite Bible verses on 12 of the snowball quilt blocks. That part was very time consuming, but it is what I really love about the quilt.

   A word of advice to anyone who is thinking of making a similar quilt. The embroidery done in yellow floss is difficult to read, so I would recommend using darker colors for the embroidery.  Otherwise, I am very happy with this quilt. It turned out just the way I envisioned it : )

Here is a close-up photo of the embroidery:

I apologize for the blurriness of this photo. I wanted to get some pictures before I wrapped the quilt and I didn't really take my time. I hope it is still a good representation of the quilt ; )

Mother's Day

Yesterday I celebrated Mother's Day with my family, and it was such a nice, relaxing time : )

We went to church, and I enjoyed a convicting sermon and some great praise and worship. After church we had lunch with some good friends (crab legs, shrimp, and steak - yum!), then we went to my parent's house and spent time with my mom and grandmother, and my father-in-law came by in the evening to see George and I, and to play with Titus of course : )

George washed the dishes (from Saturday - yikes!) and cleaned the kitchen for me and Titus gave me hugs and tickles. They really were the best kind of gifts! Also I got to finished up the Rita's in the freezer ; )

This post wouldn't be complete without me thanking my own mom for all she has done in my life. I am just starting to learn what a beautiful and challenging thing motherhood is, and I am so thankful for all the time and work you put into me, and that you now shower your grandson with love! Thank you so much mom!

Summer sewing

I have had my eye on a few sewing projects to do this summer before the baby comes. I decided to list the links to the projects I want to do on my blog, to help me remember what I want to make, and also to provide inspiration to anyone who reads my blog : )

Car seat tent

I think this cover looks perfect for a napping baby. Titus used to sleep in his infant carrier all the time, so I want to make this cover for this time around : )

Nursing cover

I used this tutorial to make a nursing cover for when Titus was nursing, and it turned out really well. I'd like to have an extra cover, so I can wash them, and still have a cover to put in my diaper bag. 

Quiet book

Titus is just at the right age to enjoy an activity book like this. I will probably create my own pages and style, but this quiet book has some great ideas for pages I think Titus would really enjoy : )

Stroller cup holder

I really like our stroller, but it doesn't have a cup holder for me. So when I saw this tutorial I thought it would be perfect! I got some laminated cotton in a cute bicycle print from my mother-in-law's fabric store that I can use to make this cup holder : )

Summer skirt

I saw this skirt tutorial on Pinterest, and I thought it looked like the perfect summer skirt! It has an elastic waist, to accommodate my growing belly, but it still looks polished and well-made.

Wetbag

I made a wet bag to use with Titus, since I do cloth diapers, but I have since lost it : (   I probably won't start cloth right away with the new baby, but Titus is still in diapers, and it is nice to have a pretty wet bag to put in my diaper bag in case of diaper changes on the go.

Menu Plan Monday - May 7

Here is what our family is eating this week:

Monday: Orange Rosemary Chicken, brown rice, and roasted asparagus

Tuesday: Chili beef noodle skillet and glazed carrots

Wednesday: Enchiladas and corn (moved from last week)

Thursday: Grilled cheese and salad

Friday: Mother-daughter banquet - George is on his own ; )

One more makes four!

George and Titus and I are so excited to welcome a new member into our family in September! I am about halfway through this pregnancy and have been amazed at how fast it is speeding by : )

I hope to post some fun baby projects and preparations, Lord willing. Or maybe I will just get caught up in the craziness of life and not post at all ; ) But hopefully I will be able to get it together.

There are several other women in our church who are due right around the same time I am, and it is wonderful to be able to share the joys of anticipating new life! Praise God for his blessings to our family and to all the other families that are expecting : )