Another new pattern on ravelry!

Just listed the pattern for this shawl I made for my friend Stacy.  It looks trickier than it is! It was fun to watch the pattern develop, and the yarn blocked beautifully. It turned out so nice and drapey, and almost lacy looking.

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stacy-shawl-2

 



Kid Approved Slow Cooker Chili

Really- see?

 

In the middle of grocery shopping Friday, my 5 year old turns to me and says "I have an idea! We can make our own chili with ingredients!"  Which I have been trying to convince him of forever since he loves Trader Joe's vegetarian chili, but we don't eat tofu. So we read the ingredients on the can, and then I let him decide what else we should add.

 

Remember, I don't measure things, I keep forgetting that I should if I want to share the recipe- but hey, I measured for the cake in the previous post, so I'm making progress.

 

We make a ton of everything so we can freeze leftovers...this BARELY fit in my slow cooker! That's why there are so many ingredients.  I add everything I have in the house.

 

Here's our recipe:

 

half an onion

3 stalks of celery

2 carrots

crushed garlic

olive oil

taco seasoning (I use this recipe)

adobo seasoning

extra cumin to taste

optional: browned ground beef

a little tomato paste

a dash of apple cider vinegar

1 cup of chicken, beef, or veggie broth

1 can black beans

1 can cannelini beans

1 can diced tomatoes

half a package Trader Joe's frozen super sweet fire roasted corn

1 package Trader Joe's frozen tri color peppers (or you could chop up your own if you're not lazy like me!)

handful of frozen spinach leaves*

handful of frozen kale*

1 package of Trader Joe's 10 minute farro (you could use rice, but the boys LOVE this stuff!)



 

*I buy spinach and kale bagged like for salad, stick the whole thing in the freezer, crunch up the bag, then throw handfuls in everything for extra veggies that are too small to be detected by picky children.

 

Turn the slow cooker on high, and add chopped carrots, celery, & onion, with a splash of olive oil, all the seasoning, and the crushed garlic.

When the onions are soft, add all the other ingredients except the farro or rice & give it a good stir.

Cook for 6-8 hours, add farro or rice 10 minutes prior to serving.

 

Enjoy!

(Somewhat Healthy) Chocolate Cake!

 Don't you love how my scrapbooking blog has become almost all recipes? It seemed the easiest place to share.

 

Last week I bought coconut cream at Trader Joe's, thinking I could put it in my smoothies since they were out of all forms of coconut milk. Well, it was solid & needed to be melted, and I did not want a warm smoothie, so I needed a plan b for the coconut cream.  I thought I could use it in place of butter or oil in a cake since it was similar in texture. Sure enough, it made an amazing, moist, delicious cake! Now I am not a professional baker, so feel free to laugh at the measurements I used, but it tasted good! And I used whole wheat flour, and no butter or oil, so it's a little bit healthy.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut cream
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350.
Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
Melt coconut cream (I put it in the microwave for 90 seconds at half power), beat in egg, add vanilla, then combine wet and dry ingredients, stir until blended. (I did this with a fork, but you could use beaters.)
Pour into a 9" round cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry.

I bet you could do cupcakes too! I will be doubling the recipe to make cupcakes for my son's birthday.

 

 

For icing, I used the paleo fudge recipe I found here.  I poured it on the cake before it had a chance to solidify. I use peanut butter instead of almond butter, so it's not totally paleo, but the cake certainly isn't paleo, I was just aiming for less sugar than a traditional icing. I also sprinkled shredded coconut on top.  Then it got gobbled up before I could get another picture!

 

I hope you enjoy the cake!

Chocolate peanut butter Pinterest fail

I saw chocolate covered peanut butter rice crispy treats on Pinterest. Turns out I didn't save the Pinterest instructions, so earlier in the week, I made a super simple version (sans chocolate) and thought I would wing it when I made the whole batch...

Let me start by saying I have never successfully covered a food item in melted chocolate. I have covered my fingers, my clothing, the stove, the counter...you get the idea.

Here's what I did:
(Remember I never measure when I'm winging it- so these are estimates)

In a large pyrex bowl melt 1 stick of butter in the microwave
Then stir in about 1/3 cup of peanut butter & 3/4 cup of powdered sugar & a dash of salt. Because I put salt in all my sweets.

Stir in half a box of rice crispy type cereal. (We like Trader Jose's brand)

Then melt a package of chocolate chips, adding in about 2 tbs of butter & a few tbs of cream, milk, or half & half.

I tried to cover the first 2 treats & gave up. I dumped all the melted chocolate into the rice crispy mixture, stirred it all up & scooped it out onto wax paper & put it in the fridge to cool & harden. Much easier, and just as tasty. In fact next time, I will skip getting my hands messy & just spread it into a tray to be cut apart like regular rice crispy treats.

and 2 more...

thanks to my hubby for modeling this one: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/j-neck-warmer

and a shawl I knit for myself, so I could finally wear my own work to the sheep and wool festival: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amanda-shawl

Just posted 2 new patterns to my ravelry store!

check it out!  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-cowl-17
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/doris-shawl

Knitting Pattern Freebie!

A freebie today! This is my go-to quick knit gift, and I wanted to share it!

 

Lori Shawl

Designed by Amanda Collins

Pattern is for personal use only.

 

Please excuse my 2 weeks postpartum baby belly ;)

I designed this shawl for a dear friend who attended the birth of my youngest son.  I wanted something really nice for a thank you gift, but with a newborn and a 4 year old in the house, it had to be quick to knit up.  It has 3 options for the edge- eyelets, picots, or bobbles.  It can be worn as a scarf or a shawlette.

One Size Fits All

Materials:

2 skeins novelty bulky weight yarn (roughly 200 yards- shawl can be made as long or short as you wish)

size 13 needles- straight or circular

tapestry needle

Gauge:  not critical

Instructions:

Eyelet Version:

Cast on 2 sts

Row 1: KFB, Knit to end

Row 2: Sl 1, Knit to end

Row 3: K1, YO, K2tog, Knit to end (the first time the K2tog is the last stitch)

Row 4: Sl 1, Knit to end

Continue until the end of the first skein of yarn, or half your desired length, ending with row 4, then:

Row 1: K2tog, Knit to end

Row 2: Sl 1, Knit to end

Row 3: K1, YO, K2tog, Knit to end

Row 4: Sl 1, Knit to end

Continue until you have 2 sts left on the needle, and bind off.

 

Picot Version:

Cast on 2 sts

Row 1: KFB, Knit to end

Row 2: Sl 1, Knit to end

Row 3: Cast on 2, Bind off 2, Knit to end

Row 4: Sl 1, Knit to end

Continue until the end of the first skein of yarn, or half your desired length, ending with row 4, then:

Row 1: K2tog, Knit to end

Row 2: Sl 1, Knit to end

Row 3: Cast on 2, Bind off 2, Knit to end

Row 4: Sl 1, Knit to end

 

Continue until you have 2 sts left on the needle, and bind off.

 

Bobble Version:

Cast on 2 sts

Row 1: KFB, Knit to end

Row 2: Sl 1, Knit to end

Row 3: Make bobble (knit into the stitch without sliding it off the needle, YO, knit into the st again, YO, knit into the stitch 1 last time, turn your work and purl 5 sts**, turn again and K2tog, slide to the left needle, pass the remaining 3 sts over that stitch, slide the stitch back to the right needle.), Knit to end

Row 4: Sl 1, Knit to end

Continue until the end of the first skein of yarn, or half your desired length, ending with row 4, then:

Row 1: K2tog, Knit to end

Row 2: Sl 1, Knit to end

Row 3: Make bobble, Knit to end

Row 4: Sl 1, Knit to end

 

Continue until you have 2 sts left on the needle, and bind off.

**If you know how to knit backwards, you can do that instead of turning the work each time.

 

Sorry I don't have a picture of the bobble version! I gave it away & forgot to take a picture!

Finishing:

Weave in ends

Pattern is for personal use only.