Rainy, Restful Wed.

It a pretty dreary day here to far. Gray and wet, though surprising not overly cold. High today is actually 68! Looks like spring is on it's way and I am more than ok with that. After a highly productive Monday and Tuesday we are are slow getting going this morning. Truth be told the girls and I are still lazing around in bed and Abi is actually still asleep after a rough night. At some point I need to get up and do some stuff to get ready for MOPS tomorrow. Also hoping to get some sewing done. I picked up some amazing yarn on vacation and I can't wait to use it!

 I finally got around to making myself a dolly before vacation. She is 6 inches and itty bitty. I am in love with her. I will definately be making some this size for Easter.

Happy Hump Day and Happy Leap Year!

Kitchen Therapy

We got back in town from vacation late Sunday night and jumped back into life first thing Monday morning. Yesterday was actually my first day back into regular routine since the miscarriage. It actually went smoother than I expected. I spent the morning do laundry, grocery shopping, and dealing with FAMIS and Medicaid over the phone and through faxes. Surprisingly it went rather smoothly and every one I talked to was very kind and helpful.

In the afternoon I engaged in some serious kitchen therapy. Cooking, baking, bread making, even decorating my Kitchen aide mixer! Nothing soothes me quite like the kitchen. One of the things I made was buffalo chicken hot pockets. I normally use this as a left over re-purpose, but Josh asked for them so I went a head and made the dip and bread solely for this purpose. I've had a couple people ask about it so I thought I would share the recipie here.

Filling

Ingredients:
1 can chicken (large size) (This is the first place you can use left overs. Instead of buying chicken use left over rotisserie chicken or really any left over chicken that doesn't have to strong a flavor and isn't in a sauce)
1 8 oz. brick cream cheese
1/2 c blue cheese dressing (we use ranch since I can't stand blue cheese)
1/4 c cayenne pepper sauce
1 pkg. shredded cheddar cheese. 

Directions: 
Melt cream cheese over medium-low heat. Once creamy, add blue cheese, hot sauce, and chicken.
Remove from heat, fold in 1/2 pkg. of shredded cheese.
Pour into square 8x8 oven-safe dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350°F until cheese is melted and bubbly. (You can also just dump it all into a crock pot)

Bread
For the bread I use my go to bread recipe which can be found HERE. But you can really use any dinner roll dough.

Assemble
Once your dip is made stick it in the fridge to cool. You want to be sure the dip is pretty solid as it makes it easier to work with. (I often make a double batch of dip and use the left overs for the hot pockets).

Make bread according to directions. Once is has risen once, grab small balls off and flatten into circles. Put a scoop of filling in the middle and wrap dough around it. Make desired amount of pockets. Put in warm place to rise till roughly double. Bake at 350 till top of rolls are brown. (Time will vary depending on size of rolls.)
 

Vacation

A few pictures from our week long getaway with Josh's parents. We weren't sure we were going to make it after the misscairage. But the doctor gave the all clear and it has been a great chance to get away for a while. We spent a few days in Gatlinburg, Tn. Now we are up in Ohio visiting his sister. All in all a good trip. More pictures coming next week!

White Spaces Quilt Part 2

 

It occurred to me the other day that I never posted finished pictures of my white spaces quilt. I first shared it in this blog post and was trying to decide if I liked the boarder. I decided to keep it even though it is a less polished look.

I bought the jelly roll to make this quilt back in May with some of my birthday money. I new I wanted to make a quilt for myself. A couple weeks before I bought the fabric my husband started a new job and our lives got very crazy. As I thought about what I wanted my quilt to look like I new it would included simple lines and white spaces. My life was so full and crazy and cluttered that I was truly craving some "white space". Over time as I worked on it I realized it was also evolving into a "make do" quilt. Money was very tight for a while so other than the jelly roll I didn't purchase any fabric for this quilt. Even the backing is a sheet gifted from a friend. It may not be the prettiest or most polished quilt but it is a visual and physical reminder of God's provision in the life of my family. 

Sewing Clothes

Sorry to have been so silent on here. It has been such a crazy few weeks. And just when I think I am ready to share, something else happens and I need more to process.

We are currently on vacation and since I am in the back seat on a long car ride to visit family I thought I would use the blogger app on my iPhone and share some pictures of the first ever article of clothing I have made for myself.

I read a few tutorials and then sort I had at it. It was originally intended to be a maternity skirt which is why I didn't share it nearly a month ago when I first made it. I wanted to wait till we announced our pregnancy. Sadly the day after sharing publicly we lost the baby. I still love the skirt though and the reminder it is of hope and dreams of growing our family to five.

Oh How I love my iPhone!

I got an iPhone yesterday and I am already in love!!! I debated between an iPhone and an Android and ultimately chose an iPhone for the applications. Or rather one application. Instgram. I have been wanting this app since my good friend Mrs. Amber Apple started using it! It also has a great plethora of social media apps. Pinterest, facebook, tumbler, flickr, even etsy and blogger! So now when I go on vacation next month I don't have to leave all you lovely people behind! So what are you favorite apps?

My Weekly Five

 

My Weekly Five:
1) I have been doing a ton of cooking lately and trying a bunch of new recipes. Found some really good one's lately. And I am enjoying being in the kitchen and especially the chance to use my new mixer!!

2) One of the recipes I tried was one I pulled out of a magazine over two years ago. I blogged about it and pin it to my food pinterest board simply to share with some friends. It has been re-pinned 36 times!!!

3) I finished two more quilt tops this week. Both have been works in progress for months, it felt good to finish this stage of them. Now onto the quilting.

4) I made a skirt for myself, and it actually looks decent.

5) Mom and Tabi visited this weekend and we had a wonderful tea party and visit!