Mmmm... spoiled milk

So we had an entire half gallon of milk that's sell by date was a week ago. Jason said it was starting to smell pretty funky, so I figured it was time to use it up. I'm just sitting here on the couch using my new massaging thing Jason got me, waiting for the last item to finish baking, so I figured I'd get online and give you some recipes to use up milk. Just what you always wanted, isn't it? Don't mention it; it's my Christmas gift to you :)

So here are the milk recipes I whipped up in order to use up the milk rather than dumping it down the drain:

CREAMED CABBAGE, 1908 [found in an old newspaper]
"Chop cabbage medium fine and cook in salt water until tender; pour off water, add milk and butter to cabbage and thicken with flour mixed to a smooth paste with milk, using amount of thickening according to amount of cabbage. Cook until the consistency of a white sauce." [I didn't follow this to a T... I steamed the cabbage in the microwave- probably not something one would have done in 1908! I also added in some spinach that I had leftover in the fridge, and I dumped in some onion flakes for taste. Oh, and don't forget the S&P! Hubby liked it!]

CHEESE BREAD
2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in Cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Mix together eggs, butter and milk. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir only until moistened. Batter will be somewhat lumpy. Do not over mix.

Pour into a greased 9x5" loaf pan. Smooth down the center with a wet spatula to flatten top. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Bake about 45 minutes. [Yum, this just came out of the oven, and it looks good!]

APPLE-PINEAPPLE BREAD PUDDING
8 c. bread cubes
2 c. apples, sliced thin
1 (16 oz.) can crushed unsweetened pineapple, do not drain
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk

Layer into 9 x 13 inch baking dish: bread, apples and pineapple. Cream sugar and butter by hand. Add eggs and milk. Pour over bread and fruit. Sprinkle
lavishly with cinnamon and brown sugar. Decorate with cinnamon apple rings. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Well, I didn't follow this recipe to a T either (I very rarely do). I didn't feel like getting another loaf of bread out from the freezer, so I used up the cinnamon raisin bread that was on the counter (about 4 cups). I also had a dab of crushed pineapple leftover in the fridge, so I used that, plus a whole 20 oz. can. Too much pineapple and not enough bread.... to compensate I lessened the eggs to two and the milk to one cup. I also had made fried cinnamon apples earlier, and decided to use two cups of those rather than slice up fresh apples. I tasted this already, and it's freaking sweet.

And Lastly, for the main course... Ham and Cauliflower Chowder.

First you have to make potato soup, which is always a good thing for using up milk. Plus I still had some potatoes to use up, as well as ham that I froze after Christmas, so this was a triple bonus!

So I chopped up some potatoes (I think 3 bigs ones and 3 small ones) and boiled them in chicken broth (about 6 cups). I also threw in the rest of the carrots I had in the fridge, and a packet of onion soup mix because I don't have any onions on hand. After the potatoes were soft, I semi-mashed them to get a thicker consistency for the soup, however I still wasn't satisfied so I added in some potato spuds to thicken it a bit more.

Keep simmering, and then add about 2 cups milk. I chopped up the leftover ham and threw it in. Lastly, I steamed the cauliflower in the microwave and tossed it in. Voila. Very tasty indeed! It's one of Hubby's Favorites!

So there you have it. Don't waste that milk that's past its prime!

In the Nesting Phase

Well I think the morning sickness has passed, and I am back to sewing, and hopefully, blogging about sewing. I think I'm in now what they call the "nesting" phase. I am sewing things up for baby like crazy. I made several pairs of pants for little Joel (yes, he's a boy, and his name will be Joel!). Photos will follow. I also made a little drawstring bag so he can tote around his toys with him when we hit the road, a dust ruffle for the crib and a matching baby quilt that should fit his toddler bed when he gets to that point (and a baby quilt for my brand new nephew), some iron-on transfers to some plain onesies, some fitted cradle mattress covers, and most recently am working on some felt and foam baby blocks.

The cradle we're using is an antique passed down for many generations in my family. My great-grandpa rocked in it, and my grandma thinks his dad may have rocked in it as well, so this dates back to late 1800s. Needless to say, the mattress that came with it was old and didn't meet today's standards. The mattress may have been new when my grandma was a baby, but that means the mattress is about 75 years old! I used it 30 years ago when I was born, however Joel needed something new. I had some foam that Jason had used as a boxspring before we were married (and how can I throw out good foam so of course I kept it!), so I was able to create a mattress from that. Then I sewed up four covers for it, for those times when little Joel needs his sheets changed in the middle of the night.


Here are the blocks close to being completed. All I have to do is sew the pieces of felt to each other, and they'll be done.


Here's a piece of the foam I used. Pay no mind to the cheezits in the background! (Hey, I'm pregnant!)


These are the cutest little pants I made. I made them from an old shirt of mine.


Check out the butt of those OSU pants- made from an iron-on transfer


Here are several pairs of pants that aren't done yet because I ran out of elastic. I figure I can wait until Joel is ready to wear these to put in the elastic and hem the bottoms so I can get the best fit possible. The best part is that I got these materials from our shed! I went outside and dug through the boxes of stuff we tried to sell two summers ago at a garage sale, and dragged it all back into the house to cut up and repurpose. The orange pants were an old sweater of mine that could not be felted, the plaid ones were short-sleeved shirts of mine, and the black pants were from a shirt of Jason's. The denim was from my great-grandma's stash of fabric. There was a ton of it to start with; I already re-slipcovered some cushions in the basement with it, and I still have lots left over.


Here's a tiny pair of dress pants made from the cut-off bottoms of a pair of men's slacks. They're so cute! Not perfect, but cute anyway :)


This is the drawstring bag I made. You can see the liner fabric around the little ducky's head. I used this tutorial from happythings' blog; it was really helpful and easy to follow!


Here's the exterior of the bag


Here's my old computer desk turned baby changing table, complete with handmade skirt to hide diaper storage.


Here's some pieces of decor for Joel's room. I bought a little bunny book at a thrift store very inexpensively so that I could cut it up and use the rabbit pictures. The mirror on the right was originally red and in the dining room; I painted it a soft green and decoupaged on the rabbit pictures.


Here's the toddler bed quilt for Joel... see the cute Thumper fabric in the corner


Another shot of the quilt.


Here are some onesies that I got as gifts. They were originally plain white, so I spruced them up. The first one is with a patch my friend gave me. The rest are all decorated with iron-on transfers.


More onesies with iron-on-transfers

Back after a long hiatus

So several months ago I wrote one post about being pregnant. A few days later, the dreaded morning sickness kicked in and never really left. I'm now 15 weeks, and it's just now starting to subside. I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING for the longest time. We bought a crib online right away, but by the time it arrived, I was deep in the throes of nausea, so there it sits. Still in the box. I haven't purchased anything else for the baby since. I totally lost all enthusiam for the child. I've decided that I'm not even going to decorate a nursery. Me. Not doing a nursery. I love to decorate, so what the hell is wrong with me? I haven't wanted to sew either since experiencing this all-day nausea and vomiting. I thought I'd be sewing up a storm, making maternity clothes and whatnot, but nope. Just the thought of it makes me cringe. The thought of blogging made me gag. Seriously, everything that I enjoyed before getting pregnant no longer sounded fun and actually made me want to throw up. Merely logging on to this blog is a huge step forward for me! The only thing that I wanted to do was eat, sleep, and occasionally remove the fetus with a sharp object. So how motherly is that- I feel terrible that I felt that way, but sadly it's the truth. (Luckily I was able to avoid that last one because my husband would not have been pleased).

I'm just now starting to want to do things that I did before, well with the exception of sewing. I still can't even stand to look at my sewing machine. I hopefully will go to some garage sales yet this summer; as of yet, I haven't gone to a single one. I did go shopping and get some maternity clothes because I have been too fat to fit into pre-pregnancy clothes for awhile now. I measured myself yesterday, and I'm 39- 36.5- 42. Well at least my butt hasn't gotten any bigger. I think it's always been 42. The waist is definitely bigger though. I just wish I knew what I was to start with, but my guess is 34 maybe. Not really sure. People definitely are commenting on my stomach though. A sales clerk at Hobby Lobby asked me and my sister-in-law (who's pregnant too and is a trimester ahead of me) when our due dates are, and when she learned that Amy's due first, she said that she would have guessed that I was due first. What the hell?! I think she just called me fat.

So anyway, yesterday Amy, me and our men drove down to Jeffersonville to the outlets. I hate car rides because they make me nauseous, but I really do need more maternity clothes so I don't have to go to work naked. So I sucked it up and off we went. We were not pleased to find Old Navy and Gap no longer carry a maternity section at their outlets, however I did have some luck at Motherhood. I always told myself I would never shop at Motherhood or Mimi Maternity because somehow I got put on their mailing list when Jason and I were planning out wedding, and it was like they sold my soul to the devil. I was so pissed at them for the longest time. But then I walked into the store yesterday... (because I wasn't going to have wasted all that gas to get to Jeffersonville for nothing!) And there it was.... hanging up in the dressing room. A strap-on stomach. What fun that was! I tried on a cami with a sweater over it, and my gut was huge. I would like to have a strap-on stomach of my own. It makes trying on maternity clothes so much more fun!

So that's basically how I've been these past few months. I've had two doctors appointments, and the little brat is fine (and I mean "brat" in the most endearing way possible). I've been on three different prescription nausea meds, and haven't really had much luck with any of them. One night when Jason had to take me to the hospital, they gave me zofran through the IV, and THAT worked. I've been on the pill form of zofran for a couple months but it's not nearly as effective. I've tried sea bands, preggy pops... you name it, I probably tried it to no avail. In my next life, I hope I come back as a seahorse- in their species, it's the MEN who carry the babies!

Cloth Diapers, Diaper Covers, and a Sleep Sack

Woohoo! I'm pregnant! After seven months of trying, we finally got pregnant :) I have about eight months until the little one arrives, and so I am getting busy creating all the eco-friendly things baby will need once she (or he) arrives.

My husband and I both agree that cloth diapers are the way to go. His mom actually used cloth diapers with him, though it was because he was allergic to the disposable kind. She used a diaper service, however I am going to try to do without one and do it myself the old fashioned way. Well with the washer and dryer that is. Not quite so old fashioned I guess.

Before we get to the pics, here are some links that will help you (I know they sure have helped me!)
Sewing Wool Soakers at http://wheelerclothbaby.blogspot.com/

Another way to sew a wool diaper cover

DIY Prefold Diaper Tutorial

Sewing Prefolds http://fernandfaerie.com/

http://clothbaby.blogspot.com/

Tons of free patterns, including one on how to make a diaper from a t-shirt

How to sew a fitted cloth diaper for cheap

Katrina's Sew Quick Diaper Soaker Pattern at http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/

Washing Cloth Diapers

A sleep sack tutorial

Another sleep sack tutorial



Here is my first wool soaker, made with two of my old sweaters that I felted.



Here's a not-quite-finished wool sleep sack, which can double as a wool soaker overnight. It isn't done yet because I haven't finished up the bottom. I can't decide how I want to finish it... velcro perhaps? I've seen some with snaps, some drawstring, some sewed shut, some zippered... decisions, decisions!


Some 100% cotton drapery panels that will soon be flat fold diapers

Some linen that will be good for something. How could I pass up good linen?

These are the cutest fabrics. (especially the bunnies!) I'm pretty sure the plain green one is snappi-able, but I don't know about the others. I ordered a snappi so I can test the fabrics out as I go.