Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Foodie Friday, a recipe, FREE stuff and GIVEAWAY Reminder!


Hi peeps!



Well, this was supposed to be a "Finish it up Friday" post, but I just didn't get to it this week…grrr…though I did manage to finish drawing all the sewing lines on the citrus charms for the table topper I first mentioned here

I also managed to clean up the mess I have been making on the kitchen table, so I can finally get back to some actual sewing!!!


I had two, yes TWO, foodie flops this week…arggh! The above casserole was a Velveeta cheese recipe I have been wanting to try. I decided to make a basic cheese sauce instead of using the Velveeta…wrong!!! Then the Hubs said he wanted chicken in it too. I thought that would be okay, so I sauteed up a couple  of chicken breasts and chopped them into the casserole dish. This recipe also calls for medium salsa. Really, it is basically 3 ingredients-Velveeta, cooked pasta, salsa and a few spices…how could I get it so wrong??? My guys liked it, but to me it tasted weird, and not in a good way. Maybe it was because I had been thinking about using the Velveeta and the real cheese sauce tasted different…who knows…I sure won't be using that recipe again.


Fast forward to two days later…I got a craving for Sloppy Joes and didn't want to use the crappy powder mix you can buy in the store. No, I wanted it to be more healthy and less chemically…wrong, wrong, wrong!!! I searched for a recipe online and found one with mostly whole ingredients. So, I cooked it all up and called everybody for supper. O.M.G., it was awful…really gross. BLECK!

The recipe called for some vinegar(which I did think was odd at the time) and some brown sugar. There was no chilli powder mentioned, so I just added some. Well, the chilli powder was the only thing that tasted good! The mix was vinegary and overly sweet, all at the same time. UGGGG!

We had sandwiches for supper. 

I am banished from using recipes I find online for a while. (OOPS!!!)


We went to Costco this week, and among other things I picked up a big package of lean hamburger meat, and a couple of jumbo cans of diced tomatoes. I did the math before we went and there is the equivalent of 3.5 x 28 oz. cans in one jumbo one(100 oz.) at Costco. So, it is way cheaper to purchase the jumbo can and divide it up into 3 freezer bags, than it is to buy 3 x 28 oz. cans. There is a lot less packaging used as well.


The next day I set myself to making up a jumbo batch of spaghetti sauce base.

Here's my recipe and cost breakdown…in CA$:

4 lbs. lean hamburger meat(~$15)
1 jumbo can of diced tomatoes($4)
3 cans of tomato paste($1 ea=$3)
1 20 ox. can tomato sauce( $2)
1/3rd of a jar of roasted red peppers(on sale $3, so $1), chopped*
4 onions($1), chopped
half a bunch of celery($2), chopped
4 cloves of garlic(in house), grated
pepper, half a handful of italian spice mix, 1 T pepper flakes(all in house)

* I use roasted red peppers in the jar as fresh red peppers are overly expensive here at this time of the year.

Total cost $28.00

Here's some basic instructions:

Cook hamburger in large skillet. Transfer well-cooked(i.e.: no pink showing) hamburger to a large plate lined with several paper towels to drain out some of the fat. Saute the chopped onions and celery in the skillet with the leftover fat. Pour the entire contents of the can of diced tomatoes into a very large pot. Add your tomato paste, tomato sauce, chopped roasted red peppers, sautéed onions and celery, grated garlic and spices. 

Bring the ingredients in the pot to a simmer, stirring everything together. You can see that I have 2 spoons in the pot; I find it much easier to mix/stir such a heavy sauce with a spoon in each hand, stirring two figure-eights. Once all of your ingredients are well-mixed, add the cooked and drained hamburger meat. Now here comes the long part! Stir the contents of the pot, while at medium-high heat. Keep stirring till the sauce starts to boil…this will take a while, so put on a CD of your favourite tunes-I am partial to Frank Sinatra while I am at the stove! Once the sauce boils, turn the temperature down and let simmer uncovered for an hour, stirring often. 

Now your spaghetti sauce base is done! Let cool on the stove(or you could spread it out in a large lasagna pan so it will cool faster). Once totally cool, separate into 4 large zip-style freezer bags(I use my 2-cup pyrex to do this). Flatten the bags full of sauce somewhat and pop into the freezer. The reason you flatten it out is so it freezes quicker and it also defrosts quicker(just in case you forgot to take something out of the freezer for supper)!!! 

We used a quarter of the base for supper that night, so now have 3 in the freezer. The reason I call it a "base", is because you are going to want to add a 20 oz. can of spaghetti sauce to the base when you warm it up, to make a nice rich sauce.

So, for cost per meal for a family of 4(we are 3, but had more than enough leftover for the Hubs' giant lunch the next day) would be $12, as below:

Base $28/4= $7
Spag sauce tin $2(but is often on sale)
Pasta $1
Garlic bread $2

..not a bad price..a good meal and healthy too!




What do you think about FREE food? Like it??? Last post I told you how to save your herbs before they go bad, and today I'll show you how to make FREE vegetable stock! 

Did you know that every time you cut up vegetables for supper, or as an ingredient for a certain dish, you are throwing food away? You cut the tops and bottoms off of celery, carrots & etc. and throw them away. Same goes for vegetable and fruit peels.

The next time you have to prepare some veggies, you can follow this neat trick…put all the off-cuts into a zip-style freezer bag, and keep it in your little freezer on the top of the fridge. That way it is readily accessible and you won't forget about it. You can do the same with peels(though not citrus or banana…that would be yucky) too, as long as you clean the vegetable first! I also add cut up apples, herbs that are a little old and anything in the crisper that is starting to go off. I just cut the nasty bits off and throw it all into my freezer bag. The above bag only took about a week to fill!

So, what do you do with it? Make vegetable stock!

Fill a large pot with water, empty your frozen veggie bag into the water and put it on high heat. Then you can add some pepper corns, several bay leafs and a little bit of red pepper flakes. Let it boil for at least 30-45 minutes. Then put a large, empty container in the sink and position a sieve or strainer on top of it. Carefully pour the vegetable stock over the strainer. Discard the cooked vegetable ends. Now you have a lovely stock, with no chemicals or salt to use when you make chicken soup or anywhere you would need to use a cooking stock. I like using this broth to cook rice in, instead of plain water!

I found a few FREEBIES around the web and though you might like them too!

Craftsy has a lot of FREE little classes(I like Bag-making Basics by Kristen Link) and e-guides(like the one about using your scraps)…just waiting for you to enjoy. It's a great was to try out Craftsy before purchasing to see if you like it(though I am sure you will). 



If you do find a class that you'd like to purchase, the greatest part is that you will own it forever and can keep on going back to watch it for as many times as you like! I know I have gone back to Playful Piecing by Camille Roskelly more than a few times!!!

There are several e-guides and mini-classes on quilting/sewing/crafts too, but I thought you might like to check these ones out(all are completely FREE): 

Photography
http://www.issuu.com
Just enter what you are looking for in the SEARCH window at the top of the page. I found several quilting/sewing/embroidery/crafts titles and I am still looking! You just create a free account and save the titles you like so that you can look at them latercool eh?

Sew Sister's Quilt Shop has all their Christmas fabric at 40% off!
Select patterns are 40% off! I'm loving that Giggles pattern by Jaybird Quilts! But then again, I am a real Jaybird junkie!!! I have 3 of her rulers and several patterns.
Don't forget their awesome Clearance section, where prices average $7.99(CA$) a meter!

Check out their value-priced shipping:

Order TotalCanadaUSAInternational*
$0 - $19.99$4.99$12.99Actual Postage
$20.00 - $100$8.99$12.99Actual Postage
Over $100Free$12.99Actual Postage

and...

Don't forget to enter my Sew Sister's giveaway here!

Giveaway is closed and has been awarded. Thanks!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Sooo, wanna see what I got for Christmas???…and What I'm Working on Now!

Hi peeps!



Each year, when we gather together for American Thanksgiving, it is a family tradition that we stick everyone's Christmas lists on my MIL's fridge. So, my Hubs suggested that I choose my own Christmas gifts(from him and the Kid) this year. To be fair, my Hubs was having a pretty busy time at work.

Woo-Hoo! Super-bonus points for him!!! Hee Hee Hee

This was when all the great Black Friday sales were going on, so I clicked on over to Connecting Threads(a favourite on-line shop of mine) and went to town! 

I love how they label each piece with fabric name and your yardage cut


They had their books at 40% off and deep discounts on selected fabrics, patterns and notions. The purple print is called "Fronds".


The pretty drawstring bag and thread snips were from my Dad

I also got the Morroccan Tiles pattern that has been on my CT wish list for ages. I am thinking of pairing solids with small amounts of 'modern' fabrics for that one. 

That teal tool on the far right is a half square triangle ruler. I've had a 6"-long one for years, and needed the longer one to finish that Jumbo Prism Pillow I was working on in this post.

It was sure hard to not open that box when it arrived a week later!


I had been saving up so that I could take advantage of Craftsy's big after-Christmas sale. These table runner kits were bargain priced(about $6 each!), so I picked up 4(shown above). The kit contains 40 5" charm squares of Batik fabrics in the Punch colour line, plus a free pattern. I have been meaning to make a new runner for our coffee table and thought these bright citrusy prints would brighten the place up.


I opened up one package and started thinking about which squares to pair together, as I would like some contrast in each pair. I will be using two packages as our coffee table is quite large.


I surfed my stash and found the perfect fabric for binding. It is a cross-weave of two slightly different colours and will be perfect binding. The photo doesn't do it justice, it is more shimmery in person. Is shimmery a word? If not, it should be! hee hee hee

This is a half-yard piece, so if I cut my binding strips straight of grain instead of on the bias, I will have enough for the large table runner, as well as for one of the extra kits.


I started marking my sewing and cutting lines on the lighter squares, using my new half-square ruler and a black Frixion pen. It doesn't show up very well here I'm afraid, but is dark enough for me to see it while sewing. 

I am having a problem with my Frixion pens not working all that well…does anyone know what might be the problem and how I can fix it?

Click here to go directly to Craftsy!
Affiliate post:
Did you know that Craftsy is have a huge Winter Wonderland sale? They are offering up to 65% off fabrics/kits/notions and classes. The classes never expire and you own them for life, so you can go back a watch them as many times as you like! I have several! It is completely FREE to Join Craftsy.

Sale ends at midnight February 2, 2015 MST, so don't delay!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Tommorrow is Groundhog Day…will he see his shadow?

Comment below!

PS: I'd like to thank each and every one of you who emailed me to see if I was doing okay. I was having a difficult time health-wise, and lost my bloggie voice for several months.


Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Happy Mail, an awesome sale and Work-in-Progress Wednesday

Hi peeps!



As you all know, I am a Craftsy Affiliate. I wanted to show you some of the great things they have on sale at the moment. 

This class has been on my wish list for a little while and is on sale for only $19.99(C$)! But not for long…sales change quickly on Craftsy.

FYI: all prices listed here are in Canadian Dollars. Prices will be even cheaper in the USA!


The Barcodes quilt kit is on Clearance for only $33.29 and comes in two colour ways. I bought the Boysenberry kit, as you can see below. 


This one is the Twisted Irish Chain-Granny Squares Kit, for only $41.62, which is  a great deal considering you get 15 fat quarters of designer fabric, Kona cotton in grey for the 'chain' pieces and a half yard for your binding.


Here is my happy mail!!! As you can see, the Barcodes kit in Boysenberry is rich and dark. A super-easy pattern, you could get it done in a day or less!

The Twisted Irish chain kit has some very modern colours that are a bit out of the box for me, but I am game to get it together. The pattern, by the wonderful Amy Smart, is sent to your patterns library in Craftsy, so that you can access/print it as many times as you like!



I got some pre-cut yardage of Kona cotton in Rich Red, White and Black. They are on sale for up to 35% off! They come nicely packaged in reusable zip bags.


Here are the pre-cuts I scored, at super prices! The Kona-white charm packs are $7.28 right now! Riley Blake small chevrons charm packs are only $5.20. I am keeping them to add a little bit of chevron to my scrappy hexie projects. 

The Bali Batiks are all sold out(see, things go very fast here), and the Riley Blake small dots and 1/4" gingham mini layer cakes are $10.20 and $6.84 respectively. I wanted to have a little bit of polka dots and gingham prints to add to various projects. I just love Riley Blake fabrics!



They have the super-popular Olfa Splash rotary cutter on for 20% off, now only $14.96.

Remember, it is fast, easy and FREE to join Craftsy. There are lots of FREE classes and independent patterns to try as well as a large Clearance section and 19 quilting classes on sale(at the moment).

Here's the link to join or sign in: Craftsy 

Website owners and bloggers: Join Craftsy’s Affiliate Program Today



So I got going on the Giant Hexie Flower Quilt I told you about last post. I thought I would save time and use fabric glue when I fold over the seam allowances, instead of having to baste all those seams to the thick poster board. I wanted to save my hands…and my needles!

I was going pretty good on the first seam, but when I had sewed the second petal on and had to switch direction to sew that petal to the centre(white) hexie, the glued seam allowance of the white hexie started to pop off. Grrr..

I managed, with the help of my handy Clover Clips. I used them to keep the seam allowances folded over and attached to the poster board. 

There were a few minor curses though.


This is the fabric glue I used, I am sure you can find it at most large fabric/craft stores. I would go ahead and use the fabric glue to hold the seam allowances to the Giant Hexie petals, but for the centre piece I would definately baste them down.

It only took me an evening of watching Luther on Netflix to get the entire Giant Hexie Flower done. Now, I am going to go a step further and hand appliqué the hexie flower to a 60", or similar, square of fabric. 

I am not sure I have enough of that orange mini bias stripe I showed you last post. We will see how it goes. I have three more of these cut out and ready to go, once I have appliquéd and removed the poster papers from the first one. If the appliqué doesn't work out, I will have 4 baby/lap quilts to give away or sell.

I want to thank you so much for supporting my sponsors! With my small commissions, I can purchase items/supplies for my self-sponsored giveaways. And we all want more of those, don't we!!! hee hee hee

Thanks for reading and have a great day!


Jacqueline