Homemade Holidays: Recycled Flannel & Rice Hot Packs

I'm really trying to make a conscious effort to avoid cheap crap this Christmas. My wishlist includes sheets, pajamas, and a wireless mouse (Maxine chewed through the cord of this one, and consequently it works about 75% of the time). Likewise, I would like to give my friends and family things that they will use and love. Getting a gift I won't use is really one of the worst things. First, I feel guilty for not using the gift so I give it to the Salvation Army or another place like that. Then I feel...

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Homemade Holidays: Terrarriums

To of my favorite things in the world are spreading my love of plants and getting rid of of things I don't use. In an effort to combine both of those loves, I recruited my sister Dawn and we decided to give a few friends terrariums as Christmas gifts this year. After doing a lot of research, we found some very reasonably priced plants on RecycledEden.com, and gathered several glass containers I had lying around my apartment just begging to be gotten rid of before I pack up and move in a few months. ...

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Red Soup!

I got this recipe from a friend about a year ago, and I love it so much that I make it a point to keep the ingredients on hand at all times.  Red soup is a really good thing to make on busy, cold nights when I want something filling but don't have a lot of time to spend on dinner.  Another thing I love is that it's fairly customizable according to how much one likes potatoes, carrots, noodles, etc.  I happen to like all of those things a lot.  I never fail to burn my tongue on red soup...

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Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I didn't think it was possible to love spaghetti squash any more than I previously did. I won't lie: the long stretch of hot months between last year's trip to the pumpkin patch and this year's was filled with a lot of noodly, marinara-drenched daydreams. I had just two big squashes left over from our most recent trip, and I really wanted to do something special with them (This is sounding more like a creepy woman-vegetable love affair that I'd intended), so when Kirby informed me that our recent Porch Swing Media get-together was to be...

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The Tastiest Sandwich of All Time

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Homemade Vegetable Stock: A Great Base for all the Soups You’ll be Making this Winter!

I have been making my own vegetable stock for the last couple of years. Basically, I compile my the leftover vegetable odds and ends (onion and garlic skins, carrot ends and peels, celery butts, etc) and whatever I have sitting in the freezer that I know I just won't use (like one piddly little corn on the cob, or stir fry mix that doesn't actually have enough left to make a full meal) in a big gallon freezer bag. I add to this stockpile (har har) regularly, and when I get a full bag that means it's time...

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Garlic Spinach Stir Fry

I love this dish for so many reasons. I have the bad habit of buying spinach with the best of intentions ("I'm going to eat salads for lunch all week!"), only to fail miserably and end up with a lot of spinach sitting in my fridge. The fact of the matter is that I just don't really like cold fruits and vegetables that much (unless it's July or August). They hurt my teeth, and when given the choice, I will always pick something hot over something cool, because I am constantly fluctuating between chilly and freezing. So,...

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Berry Zucchini Bread

I had a few zucchinis hanging out in the fridge just begging to be turned into something delicious before they became mush. Zucchini is my favorite summer squash because it can be used in so many ways. I love it in savory dishes, but I tend to use it more in sweet breads because it adds so much fiber and moisture. I used grist.org's Blueberry Zucchini Bread recipe, which I typically follow very closely because it comes out perfect every time.  Today, however, I didn't have fresh blueberries on hand so I used a frozen mixed berry...

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A Bundle of Birthdays

It seems like everyone I know has a birthday in October or November. These are just the beginning of what will probably be tons of birthday and (yikes!) Christmas presents that I should be completing over the next couple of months. What three year old boy doesn't love dinosaurs?  I was very proud when he opened his gift and recognized the triceratops and t-rex immediately!  To make these sweet shirts, I simply ironed heat-set vinyl that I cut out in dinosaur shapes (found at Dinosaurcentral.com) on to simple long-sleeved Garanimals shirts.

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