Happy Birthday Little Princess Ansley!

At two, Ansley can:
*say and identify all of her letters
*say and identify the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, and sometimes brown
*say and identify triangles, circles, squares, rectangles, semi circles, diamonds, stars, hearts, and ovals
*count from one to seven (or two to eight) all by herself
*identify the numbers 0-10
*name her friends Kensi, Bronson, (baby) Brylie, Michelle, Kaislynn, baby Ryker, Brynlee and Brynnlee, Halle, Morgan, Gavin, Kayleigh, baby Garrett, Grace, Connor, Olivia, and Bryn
*speak in four word sentences



Things Ansley likes to do include:
*drive the toys at the mall/our cars (sitting in the drivers seat, with the car off!)
*dancing and doing the actions to songs like "ring around the rosies"
*watch Curious George
*be outside
*run away at stores
*play with her friends
*hold anything we touch
*be held by me
*play the piano
*play with my sewing machine
*play hide and seek and tell us where to hide



Some great things about this stage are
*Ansley finally sleeps in her crib most of the night
*her molars are finally coming in and will hopefully stop hurting her
*she gives great hugs
*she will still give kisses for tic tacs

Salsa Chicken

Don't let the ease of this recipe fool you. It is SO good!

Salsa Chicken
Add chicken breasts and a large can of herdez medium or hot salsa to the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 ish hours or until chicken is done.



Great with:
Cilantro Lime Rice (Chipotle Style)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter
2 tsp. fresh cilantro
2/3 cup white basmati rice
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Lime

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

Autofix

Pre autofix:



Post autofix:



I like the colors in both of them. How about you? And this is my 100th post! Maybe we should have a party. . . .

Clouds and Sunshine

I'm so glad it's not snowing or raining today.

Hawaiian Haystacks

We had this for dinner a few nights ago and I forgot how good it is. I don't know why I haven't made it more recently.

The secret to the sauce is adding a can of coconut milk to two cans of cream of chicken soup. It is thick, creamy, and delicious.

These are great for a crowd b/c everyone can make theirs the way they like it. My favorite toppings are pineapple, green onions, slivered almonds (which we didn't have this day), shredded carrots, and crunchy noodles. You can also add shredded cheese, coconut, chopped green peppers, and anything else you think sounds good.

Happy Easter!

Today we are:
*so grateful for Christ's Resurrection
*dyeing Easter eggs because Ansley hasn't forgotten about them
*enjoying the sunny weather and new dresses/skirts



I made my skirt using Dana's Circle Skirt tutorial. It was a lot easier than the last two times. It was easier this time b/c I used fray check and zigzagged the raw edges (which gave the edges some stability and made them less slippery) before folding them under twice. I then used a small stitch and my walking foot to sew a skinny seam. I originally bought this floral fabric to make a baby blanket but became a little obsessed with wanting to wear it myself.

Easy Slip/Skirt

This is another one of my dollar dresses. It's a few sizes too big, which is perfect for a fuller skirt. I cut off the top, added a casing and some elastic. I like the white ruffle peeking out under other skirts and dresses. My mom would be proud that I'm not anti slip anymore.

Before:

Sausage Rice

My quicker and cheaper version of Homestyle Chicken with Sausage Dressing, or Chicken and Sausage.

Brown some sausage. I like to mix a tube of jimmy dean spicy sausage and jimmy dean lean sausage. I then split it into three or four portions and freeze the rest for later.



Add chopped onions and green peppers (if you can find frozen, chopped green peppers, it's even easier) and cook a few minutes.



Add a can of corn, liquid and all. Mix together.



Add a can of Swanson's chicken broth (this stuff really tastes better than anything else), a little less than a cup of rice, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.



Cover and cook on low until all of the water is absorbed and rice is tender and fluffy.



Let stand a few minutes, if you want.



Serve alone or over fresh white rice if you're trying to make your food budget go farther.

Ansley's Easter Dress

I made a pattern from one of her dresses.



The dress is fully lined, except for the sleeves. I used this tutorial to line the bodice and miraculously figured out how to get the sleeves in there. :)



I picked the blue lining b/c I liked the way it looks in Anthropologie's Wispy Cirrus Blouse. Now that I've uploaded the shirt, I remember liking the blue sash and buttons in this shirt too but it wasn't in the forefront of my brain as I was scheming up this dress. (ie I didn't intentionally mean to copy it).

Anyway, a few details. Little scallops



A little blue button closure



With a removable blue sash.



If I were to make it again, I'd make the scallops a little bit smaller (ie there'd be more of them and they'd be a little less tall). I clipped the seam allowance so it would lay flatter but don't like how it shows through the eyelet fabric. I chose not to clip the curves in around the neckline b/c I didn't want the jagged shape to be visible. Any tips/advice? Eyelet obviously needs to be lined. . . . I could also move the button a little more medially but I really don't like sewing buttons.



Happy Easter! And, as Ansley says, "Bye! See ya!"






Linked at this lovely party:

Sneak Peek

Sweet Sweatshirt!

I took a hand me down men's size large sweatshirt and made a cuter one.



I didn't realize that a lot of sweatshirts don't have side seams. I cut out the design and cut the sweatshirt below the sleeves. I used one of Ansley's dresses as a width guide and to trace the sleeves. I had enough material to overlap the front. I like the asymmetry and the buttons.



Here's the original front of the sweatshirt:





Linked here:

Unbelievable Baked Boneless Chicken Wings

Background story-
One of my piano student's mom's is a fabulous cook. Each week, their house smells really good. Last week she was making chicken wings and she shared a secret. She uses boneless, skinless thighs b/c they're easier to eat and have more meat on them.

I took her little secret and combined it with this highly rated recipe from food.com. I tossed the chicken in three different sauces- leftover famous dave's bbq sauce for Ansley, leftover buffalo wild wings spicy garlic for Tyrone, and Frank's red hot sauce for me. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was! I didn't change the cooking time to compensate for my skinless meat and they didn't seem dried out.

Ingredients

1 lb chicken wings
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup louisiana hot sauce
1 tablespoon margarine (I didn't use this)

Directions

1. Fill a large pot half way with water and then add the first 4 ingredients.
2. Bring water mixture and wings to a boil and then boil for 15 minutes.
3. Transfer wings to an oven safe container coated with cooking spray. Bake wings on "Broil" (high) for 15 minutes on each side.(For crispier wings, cook longer on each side, maybe 20 minutes per side).
4. While waiting for wings, combine the Hot Sauce and Margarine in a microwave safe container and cook in microwave for 2 minutes or until melted. (You can cook the sauce longer for a thicker sauce).
5. When wings are done, shake 'em up with the sauce and enjoy!