Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What the Word Says Wednesday: Week 5

Over the past few weeks, I’ve talked a lot about standing on God’s promises—memorizing them and quoting them. Today, my daily email devotional confirmed (again) what has been on my heart. The devotional is from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Their daily devotional is called Encouragement for Today. (I’m not sure if I linked it to today’s devotional only, or just the devotional in general-but the one I am referring to is Measuring Up by Renee Swope on May 30, 2012.) I’d encourage all of you to read it.

This weeks verse is 2 Thessalonians 3:3:

“But the Lord is Faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

Most of you may know that I work as a nanny. I have decided to have a few verses be our summer (and really life) mottos. These are the verses I bring up when we are having honesty issues, complaining issues, or “I can’t” issues:

“The Lord hates lying lips, but he delights in those that are truthful.” Proverbs 12:22

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be become blameless and pure children of God.”  Philippians 2:14-15

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

I think these are great verses to get into the kids’ hearts. Hopefully they will begin to sink in:)

Lexi

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: Roasted Veggies

Hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! I went to my parents’ house for the weekend and invaded my dad’s shop. I got a ton of projects done, and will be revealing them in the days ahead!

Today, I am going to share a simple recipe with you, Roasted Veggies. A few weeks ago I tried a recipe for roasted asparagus (delish!) and over the weekend, thought I’d try it with a mixture of veggies. It is easy and really good. This was also a great way for us to use some of the asparagus from my parents’ garden, as they were kind of sick of just eating it by itself.

Here is what you need:

-assortment of veggies (I added carrots, asparagus, cauliflower, and broccoli)

-onions

-olive oil

-pepper

-salt

-garlic clove or garlic powder (optional)

Chop up your veggies and onions and lay them on a foil covered pan. (It may be easier to put the chopped veggies in a bowl and then cover with olive oil.)

Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with salt, pepper, and garlic.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Stir and bake for another 8 minutes.

I did leave my cauliflower pieces a little big in this one. I would recommend cutting them smaller.

Yum!

Lexi

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

What the Word Says Wednesday: Week 4 Verses

Sorry for not posting verses last week. I had a cold that left me feeling quite tired, so I used last week as a review week. I want to make sure that these verses will stick with me for more than the week! This week, I am just going to do one verse so that I will be able to remember them all.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Lexi

Monday, May 21, 2012

Made it Monday: Leg Warmers

So I’ve had these two pairs of socks in my craft closet for a good 6 months. I bought them on clearance for under $3 with the intent of making cute leg warmers for one of my nieces. Good thing I got on this task while it is still cold out--not!

These were SO easy to make! I can’t wait to visit my family this weekend and have the girls try them out. Even if it is supposed to be 85 degrees, I’m still making them try them on:)

I followed a tutorial by Raechel over at finding my feet. After I finished this tutorial, I explored her blog and it is so great! She has tons of great ideas! Check it out.

Lexi

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: DIY Ranch and Taco Seasoning

A few posts ago, I had mentioned that I found a recipe for homemade taco seasoning, ranch, and onion soup mix. I wanted to try making them, especially the taco seasoning, and finally did (I didn’t make the onion soup mix since I don’t use it). I am so glad I did! I found a package of taco seasoning in my cupboard the other day so I looked at the ingredients—yuck! Didn’t realize all the “extras” that were in with my spices. I don’t use much ranch dressings, but one day I was telling my sister that I made these, and she was telling me how it is hard to find ranch without MSG. These are much safer alternatives.

Taco Seasoning

Ranch

Since I was going to make my own, I wanted to use good quality spices. My friend had told me about buying them out of bulk jars at a local natural food store (for those of you from my area, I bought mine at Lakewinds). I was able to get my spices really inexpensively and they were organic! Once I had all the spices, they were really fast to put together.

I did learn a lesson when making the seasonings. While I bought most of my spices in bulk, I did buy jars of some spices. I would suggest just go for the bulk. It is way cheaper and if it is a spice you won’t use again, you can get fairly close to the exact amount you need.

I have yet to try these in recipes, but am excited to do so. Here is the link with the recipes. It also tells you what to mix the ranch with (one of the options was mayo—I’d suggest using an organic version to keep with the more “natural” approach):

http://selfreliancebyjamie.blogspot.com/2011/08/tis-seasonings.html

Lexi

Monday, May 14, 2012

Made it Monday: Casserole Carrier

Happy Monday! What a beautiful day we had here in Minnesota! It helped start the week off right.

I had a really productive weekend, and am excited to share this first project with you: a casserole dish carrier. I have had this on my to do list for quite some time, but busyness got in the way and I kept moving it down on the list. Here is the finished product:

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If I had went shopping specifically for fabric for this, I probably would have chosen something else, but I had this on hand and think it turned out just fine! I used a couple of different tutorials to make this. Here are the links to the blogs:

2 Little Hooligans (casserole carrier):

http://www.2littlehooligans.com/2010/10/24/casserole-carrier-tutorial/

She used handmade straps. I’m all about simple and saving time. The next link used these woven straps instead—way easier!

Its Taylor Made (originally found it here):

http://www.itstaylormade.com/2011/10/casserole-carrier.html

The next link has the tutorial for attaching the straps.

Homemade by Jill (strap tutorial):

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2011/01/insulated-casserole-carriers.html

I think she says her strap was 82” or something like that. My piece was 75” and worked perfectly.

Here is the inside:

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The only thing I added, to stay in true Lexi fashion, were the rosettes on top. I think it gave it a little needed pizazz. I did use a little smaller velcro too, just because I had that on hand. I probably would use larger the next time though. I still have a little fabric left so maybe I’ll make a matching potholder…it may just take a while to actually get it made.

Stay tuned for more fun projects that I got done over the weekend…

Lexi

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

What the Word Says Wednesday: Week 3 Verses

Hey guys! So far, so good on the memorization! I was a little worried this week and on Tuesday morning, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get 2 Cor. 12:9-10 memorized. But, I worked on it and got it done! If you are memorizing the scriptures along with me, I hope it is going well for you too. Keep at it!

Here are the new ones for this week:

John 16:33 “I have told you these things. so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

I chose these verses this week because no matter what I am going through in my life I want to always remember that Jesus have overcome the world! John 16:33 is one of those amazing verses that you can cling to in times of trouble. I chose Jeremiah 17:7-8 because when I am going through those tough times, I want my trust to be in the Lord. I want to be like that tree that flourishes by the stream, even when the heat comes.

Lexi

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: Black Bean Burgers

Over the weekend, I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives. It talked a lot about how what we eat affects our health. The people on this documentary promoted a raw vegan diet (they said it another way, but I can’t think of the term they used now-they didn’t say vegan). While I’ll never be able to give up meat totally, I do eat probably way more than I need to. So, that night, instead of making up some hamburgers like I wanted, I decided to try black bean burgers. I found this recipe on www.forksoverknives.com. It was really easy and good.

What you’ll need:

1 15oz. can black beans- drained and rinsed

2 tbsp. Ketchup

1 tbsp. Mustard (I would use less next time, but I am not a mustard person)

1 tbsp. chopped red onion (recipe called for 1 tsp. onion powder, but I wanted to use fresh)

1 clove garlic-chopped (again, recipe called for 1 tsp. garlic powder, but I wanted to use fresh)

1/3 cup instant oats (I used 1/3 cup oatmeal and ground them in the food processor-it is supposed to hold them together better)

Crush the black beans with a fork. It is ok if some are still whole. Mix in all the other ingredients.

Divide the mixture into four parts and form into patties. Grease a cookie sheet and lay patties on to bake. Bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes, then flip patties and bake for 7 more minutes.

I jazzed mine up by adding some fresh salsa on top. Here they are without the salsa on top:

I think the Chickpea Burgers I made in this post http://remnantsdiy.blogspot.com/2012/03/tasty-tuesday-chickpea-burgers.html were better, but these were really fast and still good.

Try them for yourself and let me know what you think!

Lexi

Monday, May 7, 2012

Made it Monday: Ring Bling

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fantastic weekend! I had a fun weekend catching up with a couple of good friends from out of town.  I went to the  Mall of America with one friend and got to go to a Lorie Line concert with the other. Here is a picture from the concert—Lorie Line is an amazing pianist!

Over the weekend, I also ran into Joann Fabrics and found some really cute buttons. I thought they would make perfect rings for summer.

These were so easy (and cheap!) to make. All you have to do is cut off the back of the button (the button hole) to make the back flat. Then, I measured some elastic to the size of my finger and hot glued it on the back of the button. Super easy, super fast and super cute.


I had also seen a tutorial on Pinterest (via The Ribbon Retreat http://www.theribbonretreat.com/blog/ric-rac-rose.html) for another cute rosette ring that I wanted to try. It was made out of ric rac, so I picked some up on my trip to Joann’s.

I started with two pieces of ric rac that were 21” long.

I twisted/braided them together. I had some issues here. Mine was not looking like the tutorial did and it took me a while to get it twisted and still remain flat. I think the ric rac in the tutorial was a softer material. My ric rac was kind of stiff, so that may have had something to do with it.

Once I finally got the twisting figured out, I rolled it up.

Then, I hot glued the excess ribbon underneath the rosette.

I couldn’t get the edges to “bloom” like they did on the tutorial either, but I think it is cute as is.

You can buy a ring base to put these flowers on as well, but I had a lot of elastic at home and knew that worked just as well. Here all the rings are together:

On a side note, please excuse my un-manicured nails in these pictures. I am slightly embarrassed that the one time I show my nails in a post this is how they look! I also had marker and paint on my hands (in the pictures with the rosette ring) from helping in nursery at church earlier in the day.
I’ll be back tomorrow with another recipe for you to try, so be sure to check back then!
Lexi

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

What the Word Says Wednesday

Last week was a success! All of the verses are memorized! Here are my new verses for week 2:
2 Corinthians 12: 9-10: “But he said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s  power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Even though I have already memorized 1 Peter 5:7, I included it this week because of something I read in Calm My Anxious Heart. The author was talking about how we often quote verse 7, but ignore verse 6, where it says to humble ourselves. Sometimes, even though it is really hard, we just need to humble ourselves and give our worries over to God. We just need to trust that he is in control and know what is best for us.
On a side note, I finished the 10k on Saturday! I finished in an hour (same as the last 10k). I was a little disappointed since I wanted to beat my last time, but this was still a pretty good time considering my side hurt really badly for over 2 miles! It was a chilly and rainy morning, but once we started running, it wasn’t bad. I am really happy that it is done and over!
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Lexi

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: Mexican Stuffed Shells

This weekend, I made one of my new favorite recipes, Mexican Stuffed Shells. I found this recipe via Pinterest (surprise!), and was pleasantly surprised with how good it is.

 

Here is what you’ll need:

1 lb. ground beef
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells (I use a whole box)
1.5 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce                                                                                                                           1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the noodles. While the noodles are boiling, brown the hamburger.

Once the hamburger is browned, add the taco seasoning according to the package directions. Then, add the cream cheese and allow it to melt.

Meanwhile, pour the salsa into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

When the noodles are fully cooked, drain the water and lay them out on a cutting board to cool. Then, you can start stuffing the hamburger mixture into the shells. I will admit, I hate this part. It is tedious, but its worth it in the end. Set the shells in the salsa once stuffed. I did run out of the hamburger mixture for the last couple of shells, so I just threw them in the pan. You could probably add more hamburger/taco seasoning/cream cheese to fill all the shells.

Pour the taco sauce over the top. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Top with cheese and bake another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Top with green onions, sour cream, and your other favorite toppings (black olives are great on top and so are sliced grape tomatoes).

Soon, I will be trying another recipe that I found on Pinterest for homemade taco seasoning. I am excited that I will know exactly what I ‘m putting in my food versus trusting in packaged seasonings. I’ll let you know how that works out!

Lexi