Breakfast Burritos

My family is really big on breakfast, so we do a lot of different things around here. One of the favorites is breakfast burritos. These are pretty fast, really yummy, and you can load them up with veggies if you want. So, to start I brown little hash brown rounds until they are tender and golden brown. Remove those from the pan and set aside.

 Next, scramble up some eggs, add a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I like to throw in a few real bacon bits and chopped onion too.

 I throw in some crumbled sausage sometimes too. Add shredded cheese, pico de gallo and tortillas and breakfast is served!

I like pico de gallo because the veggies are fresh, but you can add any toppings you like. We put a little fresh sour cream in there too. Cut up avocados, fresh cilantro, a little lime juice- it's all good in there! So just experiment and see what you like.

Window sill herbs.

You really don't need a lot of space to grow herbs. So, if you have an empty piece of counter near your kitchen window, you are set! I grabbed these potted herbs at the store the other day, I put one on each side of my kitchen sink. I've already been cooking with them! These pots each have three types of herbs.

 I have Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano and Spearmint. I love to cook with Rosemary- it's my favorite! The spearmint smells so good- you can actually smell it just standing at the kitchen sink!

I made fish the other night, and just clipped a few herbs to throw on top- so easy and so good! So... go get yourself some herbs for your kitchen window sill!

Best fried chicken ever!!!

I made this just the other day, and my family ate it up!

Start with about 2 cups flour   1 tablespoon salt  2 teaspoons garlic power/onion powder/seasoned salt  1 teaspoon pepper - mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl. In separate bowl mix 1 1/2 Cups buttermilk and one large egg. Whisk together until completely combined.

 I had frozen chicken breast- so I thawed them first. You can use strips or whole pieces if you want as well.

 I wanted mine to be kid friendly, so I cubed it up into bite sized pieces. This size also makes cooking it to perfection a breeze!

 Dip each piece of chicken into the buttermilk/egg mixture and then toss to coat in the seasoned flour mixture.
Heat oil in a pan over medium/high heat- about an inch in the bottom of the pan worked just fine for me. Throw the coated chicken in the hot oil and let it cook until golden brown and crispy.

 This was the first little batch, and I didn't let it cook quite as long as I should have- so it's a little lighter, but the chicken is still cooked through completely.

                   This is more like what it should look like- kind of a darker golden brown- but not burnt.

                                         It was seriously the best fried chicken I have ever had!

Fur baby bandannas!

So, I know, some people love to dress their fur babies up in full outfits... I totally saw a little Chihuahua the other day in a leather jacket with a fur hood- little guy was totally peacocking!!! It was so funny! (if you don't know what peacocking is, then you haven't seen 17 Again.... and you should!) Where was I??? Oh yeah, dressing fur babies. Okay, so for some people outfits are just a little too much, so, I have an alternative that I think most people would agree is tasteful and still really cute! Fur baby bandannas. These are so easy to make and super cute! I just bought some seasonal fabric and went to town! I didn't do it the easy, traditional way... 'cause that would have been too easy! No, I cut the triangle, hemmed all sides and sewed a ruffle to the lower two sides for the girly Valentine one.

          This is Ms. Stella, the Boxer, modeling this frilly, ruffled Valentine bandanna- isn't she pretty!

  She looks like she's saying "does this bandanna make me look fat?"

This is Mr. Houston Malone modeling his "manly" version of the Valentine bandanna. He's a "bugg"- Boston Terrier/ Pug Mix- so I thought it was so fitting that one of the tickets says "Love Bug"... he is a love bug! For his, I cut two triangles, sewed them togehter with right sides facing, then turned them right side out and hemed the top edge- this way his bandanna is double sided.

  "Is this my good side mom?".... He's so cute... well at least I think so!

 The store already had St. Patrick's day and Easter fabric out, so I made those too! Now the dogs can be festive for the next three months!

So, the super simple instructions are- measure your dog/cat's neck and cut a square of fabric that is about 4 inches longer on the diagonal than the circumference of your pet's neck. Hem a 1/2 in seam all the way around the square. Fold the square in half to form a triangle- tie the bandanna around your pet's neck- tight enough to stay on, but please people- don't choke your pets!

S'mores Brownies!!!

If you need a quick dessert, but don't want the plain old chocolate chip cookies, or boxed brownies, this is your dessert! So super easy and takes only a few minutes longer than baking the brownies.

 Ingredient list- Boxed brownies mix- marshmallow fluff- chocolate chips- graham crackers- little marshmallows.

 Directions- bake brownies according to packaged directions. While brownies bake- break several graham crackers to make bite sized pieces.  Remove brownies  from oven- while still hot pour the marshmallow fluff on top and let melt a few seconds- smear to coat the entire surface of the brownies. Sprinkle marshmallow fluff with chocolate chips, little marshmallows and graham cracker pieces.

 See all the yummy layers.... oh they are sooo good! You might get a tummy ache if you eat too much!

You can serve these warm or cold- really no matter how you serve them, they are going to be good!

New life for old jeans!

Okay friends, if you can sew a straight stitch, you can do this! If you can't sew a straight stitch, find a friend who can, and do this together! I have always thought this was a great idea, but I'd never tried it... until now that is! So, grab an old pair of jeans, khakis ... pretty much any pair of pants. I chose to make my youngest little girl a denim skirt. She has worn the knees out of several pair of jeans, but the waist still fits, so this seemed like the perfect solution. I'll take you step by step so you can make this too.

Step 1- select your pants to start .

 

                                                 Step 2- fold them to the side, leg on top of leg so they are even and you can cut the lower part of the leg off. Be sure to leave a little extra for the hem- so if you want a knee length skirt, cut it about an inch below the knee.

 Step 3- cut the lower leg off. It obviously works best if you are making a skirt that is a length short enough to use the lower leg as the middle of the skirt.

 Step 4- cut the inseam of the pants to open them up. It works best to leave the thick hem to the front so the finished product looks more "store bought" and not so home made... you know if you care about that.... like I do! (does anyone else suddenly hear the lyrics to "you're so vain" running through your head... No? It's just me.... ok.)

 Step 5- open the seam of the leg - again it looks better if you cut the small seam and leave the thick one intact.

Step 6-   Iron all pieces so they are wrinkle free and lay nice and flat.

 Step 7- pin the pieces together for the FRONT of the skirt. You want to pin the leg portion to the body of the skirt. You can pin it with the hem that was the ankle hanging a little lower than the other hems, or you can match it up exactly. I left the ankle hem a little lower so I didn't have to sew through that thick seam. I planned to cut that part off in the end anyway, so it worked great.

 Step 8- trim the extra from the BACK seam. You will notice there is a bit too much fabric at the back because of what was the allowance for the bum.. you don't need that. So, trim a little triangle of the fabric off to allow the back of the skirt to lay flat.  Now pin the other opened up leg to the back of the skirt.

Step  9 -     Now just sew it all up. You should be able to run a straight stitch up the seams in the front and back. Depending on what you decided to do with the front hem, you will need to trim it evenly all around the bottom. I wanted a raw edge on this skirt, so I chose to hem about 1/2 inch up from the edge and let if fray in the wash. I did cut the thick seam off from the leg pieces so that it was just a raw edge all the way around. Your skirt should look something like this at this point in the process.

Step 10- hem the edge. You can have a finished edge by ironing the raw edge under and hemming it that way, or you can leave the raw edge and sew about a half inch above it to leave a fray. That's what I did.

See the hem that I sewed there and then the raw edge.

Mission COMPLETE!!!- okay it's as easy as that! .... but if you want to get a little fancy here is what you can do.... Pick a fabric to add ruffles. You need evenly cut strips of fabric- any fabric you like will work. Cut strips that will be the length of one and a half times around the skirt.

Fold and iron each strip in half long ways. This will become your ruffle. You can just eyeball it and ruffle the strip as you sew it on, or you can run a loose basting stitch along the raw edge and then pull the thread to ruffle the fabric so it will fit all the way around the skirt.

Sew the ruffles to the bottom hem of the skirt starting with the lowest one and moving up to the top ruffle. I also had an old crocheted table cloth- so I cut some of the different sized medallions out and sewed them on too.

This is the "fancy" skirt!

You can basically add anything you want once you have the body of the skirt completed. So, be original- think of something you love and sew it on! My own skirt is going to have a bird on the side in a bright fabric- I'll post pics when I get it finished.