Design Dilemma!

Now that fall is pretty much here, there are so many things to look forward to...... drinking baileys and hot chocolate on cool nights, eating root vegetables, and fowl suppers...just to name a few. Fall also marks the beginning of the craft show season! I already have 4 local craft/trade shows on my plate, and I am looking for more! Unfortunately, I have a little "design dilemma"..... This year I really want to make my booth look professional, pretty and functional. However, I have no clue how to display all my headbands and bows in a professional way! I have been googling for days and nothing has inspired me. So I thought that I would turn the problem over to all the crafty people who follow the blog.

So, If you have ever attended a craft/trade show would you be so kind as to tell me how you made your display and maybe even send me a pic? I need some great inspiration ideas that are girly, functional, and pretty!

CAKE!!!! That Is All.........

A few weeks ago my daughter hit a big milestone, she celebrated her first birthday! It's so hard to think of her as a toddler instead of a little baby, but she really has grown up from the sweetest little baby into an even sweeter little girl. Her party was amazing, with 15 family members making the trip to celebrate with her!

I thought that I would share the recipe for the cake that I made her......

Red Velvet Cake

3/4 C Butter

1 1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Cocoa

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 Tbsp Red Coloring

2 1/2 C Cake Flour
1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

1C Buttermilk

2 tsp Vinegar

Beat butter, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt and vanilla in a large bowl for 2 mins until creamy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time until well blended. In a seperate bowl, stir milk, food color and vinegar until well blended. With mixer on low speed, beat in flour in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture in 2 additions, beating until just blended. Bake at 350 for 20 mins.

And of course and picture of the birthday girl enjoying it...............

A New Blogging Low

So today I was reading through the post archive at a friends blog and clicked on a link, that low and behold, took me to my blog! As I was thinking about how nice it was of her to link me up, I noticed something on my site's post archive. I realized that behind "August" there was only a "1".....1 post for the whole month! I really don't know what happened or where time went! But I do know that you guys deserve more of my thoughts, opinions and general knowhow! LOL.

So I knew that I had to post an apology (again) for being slack, but then I had to rack my brains about something else to talk about, because let's face it....listening to me bitch about how I have no time is not that interesting, and I'm pretty sure that alot of you would "unfollow" me! So I took the time to look back thru my past posts for inspiration.

Since the big move I have really fallen off the wagon in regards to my budgeting and meal planning. Now that I am back at work, it's so easy to just spend and not worry b/c now we have duel incomes. But we have recently decided that instead of doing the reno's on the new house ourselves, we are going to hire people to do it for us. My hubby would still prefer doing it himself (aka the CHEAP way) but I explained it to him like this.... Less Stress=Happy Wife, Happy Wife=Happy Life. But I digress....

As I mentioned before, I am back to work, so I dug out the old financial calculator that I downloaded off the Till Debt Do Us Part website and plugged in our new numbers. As of today we are officially BACK on the jar system, so our weekly household budget breaks down like this......

Transportation- $57.69

Food- $92.31

Entertainment- $23.08

Clothes/Gifts- $18.46

Everything Else- $25.38

Total Jar Money- $216.92

I think that it's definatly doable....The biggest stumbling block that we had the last time that we tried the jar system was when ever we had to buy formula, we only had $52.00 to eat with for the rest of the week.... but that problem is solved b/c our daughter is almost completely weaned onto cows milk. I am really refreshed about this new budget and I'm excited to get ahold of our finances again.

A big part of making that budget work tho is meal planning....something that I also let slide. I hate to admit it, but I think that we eat out almost 5 days a week.....what a waste of money and of health! So back on the meal planning bandwagon, here is my plan for the week......

Sunday- Chicken Ceaser Salad

Monday- Beef Stew

Tuesday- No supper b/c we are going on a trip!

Wednesday- Trip!

Thursday- Trip!

Friday- Perogies and Smokies

So enough of my novel! I will let your eyes rest now, so that you can read my incredibly interesting post tommorrow!

August Featured Blog

Tonight I was at work and, instead of thinking about my customers, I was thinking about blogging....when suddenly I realized that I still owe all of you a featured blog for August! So without further ado here it is.....

My featured blog for August is one of my favoritest (it's a word in the Jacylyn Dictionary) blogs that I usually refer to at least once a day. Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a great blog with hundreds of wonderful recipes. What I like the most about the recipes that they have is that it was the food I was raised with. Nothing too fancy, just the good downhome cooking that you have on the Prairies. I also love love love that they have recipes for traditional fare, like Rollkuchen. Be sure to check out the recipe for Rhubarb Upside Down Cake with Warm Vanilla Sauce...it's my favorite! And I am sure that everyone needs one more recipe to use up their rhubarb with!

Sewing Machine Meltdown

Recently I got the chance to go to FabricLand, where I found that cotton prints were 60%-70% off! The prints were absolutely adorable, and I knew that I wouldn't be back into the city for awhile, so I went a little crazy and bought a whole lot more fabric than I should have. So I get home and I am looking at all this fabric and I am at a loss of what I should do with it, so I pull out my pattern box and start looking through it for inspiration.
I finally decided to sew my daughter a cute and light little summer dress. It turned out even better than I had imagined!


Since the dress turned out so well, I was going to make a few more to sell at the flea market that I had a booth at last weekend....but the disaster struck and my sewing machine decided to go on strike!

I have absolutely no idea what happened to it or how to fix it. Basically, it stitches fine, but when I go over a seam or a wrinkle, the bottom thread doesn't catch. Then it keeps skipping stitches for 4 or 5, then starts sewing great again! It's soooooo frustrating! I have taken it apart and put it back together and fiddled with all my settings, and I have no clue what to do next.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what is causing this or how I can fix it?

My Singer is a basic model and by time I take it to the city (over 2 hours away) where I can get it fixed, it would prolly cost more than it's worth. I hope I can get it working because I defiantly can't buy a new one. It took some fast talking to justify my new Cricut Cake to my hubby and I am pretty sure he would not be too happy if I dropped another chunk of cash on a new sewing machine!

Calling All Fabric-oholics

This past weekend I went to a family reunion and while I was there, one of my cousins was kind enough to tell me that she likes to read my blog...... I almost fainted! I figured that I had lost most of my readership since I neglected you all so terribly in the beginning of the year. So this compliment has motivated me to keep up blogging a little more regularly.

So I thought that I would pass this little giveaway on to all peeps out there! One of the blogs that I follow, A Whoopdedoo Life, recently won a giveaway, so she is doing a giveaway! I love that idea, pay it forward. She is giving away a bunch of fabric (hence the title) and is picking the winner this weekend. So head on over and take a look.

Also, might I add that if you love purses, you should go and look at her etsy page......I seriously have to restrain myself from not buying every single one she has!

July Featured Blog

It's a new month, which means that I get to share another one of my favorite blogs with you.
This month I have decided to feature a blog that has given me countless hours of entertainment....Cake Wrecks.

Cake Wrecks is a great blog that posts photos of professional cakes gone horribly wrong. From spelling errors to terrible decorating to unidentifiable creatures, this blog shows the best of the worst! In addition to the cake wrecks, they also have "Sunday Sweets" which feature amazing, beautiful cakes. I think that my favorite thing about this blog is that they update every single day, and who doesn't like having something new everyday?

So to see some hilarious cakes done wrong (and occasionally right) at Cake Wrecks

Make Ahead Appetizers

It seems like recently, everyone has been asking about appetizers so I thought that I would post the menu for a small afternoon get together that I hosted a few months ago. I tend to stress out alot the day of when I host parties, so I like to do as much as I can before hand. I made/prepped everything for this party the night before.
Clockwise from top left:

Cheater Bruschetta- This is my cheap version of bruschetta that everyone loves. I cut up the tomatos and basil the night before and cover it with a dressing then let it marinate overnight in the fridge. About 10 minutes before guests arrive, I cut up the french bread, put on the garlic spread and toast it, then I spoon the tomato mixture and sprinkle a little bit of crumbled feta on top.

Taco Dip- The thing that I love about this dip is that you can make it the night before and it keeps in the fridge great overnight! I just take it out about 1 hour before guests arrive so that it's not really cold, and serve it with tortilla chips.

Potato Skins- This are such a great little treat, and the best thing is that they can be made ahead of time. The night before I cook the potatos in the microwave and scoop out the insides. Then I add the bacon bits and chives and top with shredded cheese. Then I cover it all up and pop in the fridge. About 1/2 hour before guests arrive I take it out and bake in a 350 degree oven. Then pop on a cute platter and serve with sour cream.

Fruit Pizza- I love this dessert, it's so fresh and yummy. It is also is another recipe that you can make the day before. Once again, I also take this out of the fridge about an hour before guests arrive so that it is not too cold.

World's Most Boring Blogger

It's official, I think that I have become the worlds most Boring Blogger! I would really love to have something creative and interesting for everyone, but my life is really slow right now. Just the basic cleaning, yardwork, and baby raising.
What do you all want to see more of on this blog? Recipes, Craft Tutorials, random crazy babble about my life? Leave a comment and let me know!

Hopefully my life will be getting a little more exciting soon, and until then I will leave you with some pictures of some cooking that I have done recently.

The Cupcake Girl

Have I mentioned that I LOVE to make cupcakes? I love making them, I love thinking of different flavors, I love decorating them pretty, and most of all I LOVE eating them!

So I have decided to parlay my love of cupcakes with my love of money and started up The Cupcake Girl, selling fresh custom cupcakes locally.

Of course any home based business needs a great website. Now, I am lucky that I can even figure out this blog (and I only really understand about 20% of it!) So I must say that I am wicked proud of my little website....it's simple but it's cute!

Head on over, check it out and let me know what you think! Good or Bad

http://thecupcakegirl.weebly.com

Baby Food Genius

Earlier this week I devoted a whole afternoon to making baby food. I have several reasons why I made my own homemade baby food, but it really comes down to the fact that I am incredibly cheap and it pains me to pay for something when I can make it myself for less money. I thought that I would share with you all how much more affordable it is to make your own baby food.
One serving size is the size of a large ice cube.

Carrots- $3.50 made 10 servings= $.35 a serving

Peas- $2.00 made 6 servings= $.33 a serving

Avocado- $3.87 made 7 servings= $.55 a serving

Beef- $2.90 made 8 servings= $.36 a serving

Peaches- $2.76 made 7 servings= $.39 a serving

Potatoes- $.79 made 11 servings= $.07 a serving

I was really surprised by that last one, but 5 lbs of potatoes are $3.99 and I used a pound (prolly even a little less) so my math works out after all!

Featured Blog

Well, the baby is in bed so I guess that it's time to blog! Lately I have been reading alot of blogs. Most of the blogs that I follow involve cooking, crafting or getting free stuff! I really enjoy reading these blogs, so I thought that I would start featuring one blog a month. So, this month I have decided to feature the blog of a good friend of mine.

Going Green In 2010, The 365 Day Challenge follows my friend Nicole's journey to become more eco friendly in 2010 by making one green change everyday. She has lots of fantastic ideas for how to be a little bit nicer to the environment. I have been following this blog since the beginning and it has definitely made me think about my own impact on the environment.

I hope that everyone enjoys reading this blog as much as I do!

I'm Feeling Scrappy

This weekend I made a trip to the inlaws and distracted my mother in law with a baby and made use of her Cricut and HUGE selection of scrapbooking supplies. I have about a 14 month backlog of pregnancy and baby pictures to get through, and it's been raining non stop here so I thought that I would tackle the task. However I have a big problem when it comes to scrapbooking......I am terrible at it! Seriously, I have a million great ideas in my head, but I just can't seem to get them together on paper. The biggest problem seems to be my layouts, I just can't seem to be creative enough....all my pages look them same!

Luckily for me, Google came to my rescue. I found lots of great sites with FREE scrapbooking layouts according to how many pictures that you want to display on the page. So if you are also scrapping handicapped, I will share the sites with you......

http://www.wittyliving.com/crafts/scrapbooking/layouts/scrapbooking-sketch.html

http://scrapbooking.about.com/lr/scrapbook_page_sketches/252109/2/

Let's Play A Game

Today we are going to play a little game called Name The Plant! Since we bought our house in winter, I had no clue what shape the yard was in. Now that the weather has settled down and I am reasonably confident that we won't have anymore snow this spring *fingers crossed* I have turned my attentions to gardening. There are several different types of perennials growing in my yard, however I am not very knowledgeable about perennials and I have no clue what's a flower and what's a weed.So if anyone can tell me what species of plant these are, what they are like, and any sort of tips or hints for their care that would be very much appreciated!!!!

Saska-what!

I recently had a request for a Saskatoon berry substitute for my recipe for Saskatoon Stuffed Pork Loin.

Saskatoon berries are found throughout Canada and most of the U.S. however, they are often called Service Berries. Usually you can pick them at a U-Pick location and freeze. *Thank you Wiki lol*

However, if you don't want to bother, any sweet berry will do for this recipe, tart berries are not so good, so you might want to put the raspberries on hold!

If anyone makes this recipe with another kind of fruit, please let me know the outcome (good or bad!) and I will blog it for the world to know.

Gifts With A Cost

I got the best present for Mother's Day this year, my wonderful hubby and little girl got me a nice new sweater and the 22 piece Magic Bullet set!
Unfortunately, I have only used it for evil.....namely milkshakes, margaritas, and very fattening dips containing a obscene amount of cream cheese. And I have only had it for 1.5 days!!!!!

My favorite Magic Bullet recipe, from the cookbook that come's with it "10 Second Recipes"

Boulevard Bellini

ice
frozen peaches
1 shots champagne
2 shots peach schnapps
1 oz lemon lime soda
1 tsp sugar

1) Fill a party mug or tall cup halfway up with ice and add frozen peaches to fill the cup
2) Pour in all liquid ingredients
3) Blend until smooth

Super yummy and perfect to drink on the patio after a long day. Now if it ever quits snowing here I will sit out and drink it, until then.....in the bathtub!!!!!!

Expanding My Culinary Horizons-Day 5 & 6

Sorry it has taken me so long to post the rest of my personal cooking challenge. I am just finally catching up after a week long holiday! So here we go.......

On Day 5 I tried to recreate a dish that my husband had in a restaurant once, Saskatoon Berry Stuffed Pork Loin. I must say it turned out even better than I had expected! I don't usually like to eat pork, but I definitely had seconds that night. I served it with steamed vegetables and baked potatoes.

On Day 6 I made a Beef Taco Bake, taken from my Campbell's Classic Recipes cookbook. I liked this casserole enough, I would definitely make it again however I would season the beef this time with some taco spice.

Saskatoon Berry Stuffed Pork Loin

1/2 C Saskatoon Berries
1/2 block cream cheese, softened
1 medium fresh pork loin roast

1) Cut the pork loin about 80% of the way through and spread open like a book
2) Combine berries and cream cheese
3) Drop the cream cheese mixture onto the pork roast
4) Close the roast back up and tie up with kitchen twine
5) Season the roast to your taste ( I just used salt and pepper)
6) Cook until done in a 350 degree F oven

Beef Taco Bake

1 pound ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 cup chunky salsa
1/2 cup milk
6 flour tortillas or 8 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1) Cook the beef in a skillet over medium high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring frequently to break up meat. Pour off any fat.
2) Stir the soup, salsa, milk, tortillas and 1/2 cup of the cheese unto the skillet. Spoon into a 12 X 8 shallow baking dish. Cover the dish with foil.
3) Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

So thus concludes my personal challenge to try a new dish everyday for a week. I really liked the variety, but I must admit I missed my old favourites. But I will definitely be adding most of these recipes into my meal plan rotation.

I would also like to wish everyone else who were inspired to do their own "new dish" challenge good luck! I hope that you enjoy all the new food as much as I did.

Expanding My Culinary Horizons-Day 4

Well, I am back on track! Last night's new dish was a creation of my own. I am a huge fan of Wok Box, but since moving to a small town I haven't had any in awhile. So I decided to create my own! And I must say it was delish, prolly the best thing that I have made the whole week.

Jacylyn's Homemade Wok Box
(all amounts are to taste)

Sliced carrots

Broccoli
Green Onions
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Vermicelli
Bean Sprouts
Limes
Sauce of your liking (I bought a bottle of Thai Chili Roasted Garlic Sauce from a trade show that worked awesome!)

1) Cut up chicken breast into chunks and cook in a frying pan
2) Boil vermicelli according to package directions
3) In a wok, combine all the vegetables and cook until tender, but not mushy.
4) Add chicken and noodles to the wok and combine thoroughly
5) Add sauce to taste and heat all the way through
6) Top with bean sprouts and lime wedge

Expanding My Culinary Horizons-Day 3

*Boom* That is the sound of my plan crashing and burning. Last night we had unexpected company and since I meal plan, I only had enough food for two servings (me and my hubby), so out for dinner we go.
Last night was supposed to be Saskatoon Stuffed Pork Loin with Herb Roasted Potatoes and Mixed Berries with Cinnamon Dumplings for dessert. However this has become Saturday's meal.
So the show must go on!

Check back tommorrow for tonights new dish!

Expanding My Culinary Horizons-Day 2

Last night the menu was Shrimp and Mushroom Linguine with Cream and Herb Sauce and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries for dessert. I got the recipe for the pasta online at AllRecipes.com.
I personally didn't care for this recipe at all, it just tasted like butter. Even though it takes a little more time I would rather make a sauce with cream.

Shrimp and Mushroom Linguine with Cream and Herb Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 1/2 pound cooked shrimp
• (8 ounce) package linguine pasta

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook and stir until tender. Transfer to a plate.
3. In the same pan, melt 1/2 cup butter with the minced garlic. Stir in the cream cheese, breaking it up with a spoon as it melts. Stir in the parsley and basil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in boiling water until sauce is smooth. Stir in cooked shrimp and mushrooms, and heat through.
4. Toss linguine with shrimp sauce, and serve.

The Chocolate Covered Strawberries were amazing....of course! I had them for the first time at my cousins at Easter and she told me how to make them, so I thought that I would give it a try.

Simply melt 2 Toblerone bars over low heat and dip fresh, washed and dried strawberries into it. Place the strawberries on waxed paper and refrigerate until it's time to serve.