Stuffed Poblanos

I have pretty much reserved Sunday afternoons as my "experiment cooking day". We usually pig out on the weekends and want to eat lighter on Sundays so I will experiment on a new dish and that way, if no one likes it, then they can just go grab a sandwich or something.

I made these stuffed Poblano peppers that seemed to be a winner, even by my daughter, that in no way will eat pinto beans. She ended up eating the whole thing and liked it. I guess with everything mixed in the beans, it took away from the texture. That's what she hates about beans, the texture not necessarily the taste.

This tasty recipe can be used as the main portion or on the side. I suggest main portion of the meal since its so filling and tasty. If you like Mexican food, you will like this. Poblano peppers are not usually hot, but depending on where they are grown, they can be hotter than others. If they are grown in a hot and dry climate, they will be more intense. So don't be surprised if they are a little spicy. The one I ate was almost too hot for me to enjoy, while my daughters and husbands had no hotness at all. So, just take that into consideration before serving to children.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

4 Peppers

1 can re-fried beans

1/2 cup cooked instant rice

1/2 cup Salsa or picante sauce

Mexican cheese (shredded)

Chopped Cilantro (amount depends on preference)

Cut the peppers in half (from top to bottom), clean out the seeds and rinse.

Place in a microwave dish and cover with a lid or wax paper.

Microwave for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir together beans, rice, cilantro and salsa until well mixed.

Spoon mixture into the pepper halves.

Cover and microwave another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle each half with cheese and microwave uncovered for another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle more cilantro on top before serving if desired.

Enjoy.

Approx. 150 calories, 3g fat, 23 carbs. in each half.

I served mine with a side of my favorite cilantro lime rice. Well, because I made to much rice to start with and had to do something with it. I'm used to cooking two cups of rice at a time. You can find my cilantro rice recipe here.

Warning- After handling peppers, make sure you wash your hands good before rubbing your eyes. I learned this the hard way.


Ive shared this at:
something-fabulous-wednesday at roubinek.  
made-by-me-129-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio 
full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage
thursday-favorite-things-blog-hop at katherinescorner
bacontimewiththehungryhypo *Featured*
.pamspartyandpracticaltips

Baby Shower Show Off

I'm excited to say I get to be an Aunt again to a baby boy. I can not wait for him to get here in July. I think the older I get, the more excited I get when a baby comes into the family.

The last baby born in the family was about 3 years ago, and since then, Ive been enjoying crochet more, so this poor child is gonna be covered in crochet....Literally because as soon as I heard the news, I began to crochet him a blanket. Its a rather small blanket, perfect for a cradle, lap or stroller.

She is doing his nursery in "Elephant on Parade" so I tried to match the colors accordingly. I then ordered a darling little wooden teether to match.

I ordered if from littlethingsboutique on Etsy. You should definitely check out some of her creations. They are so darn cute!

I didn't stop there. Since most of the family are Tarheel fans, I decided to make him a hat and booties for game days.

And since his father takes interest in reptiles, I made this adorable little set for fun.

Maybe it will be good for a daddy and son day out.


Last but not least, I made him this elegant looking little newsboy hat set.

 

 

The shower went well and everything she got was so cute. However, the cake is always my favorite part of a shower. She did cake pops instead. They were so sweet! My favorite was the grape salad and pecan pie bites. Here is the recipe to the same grape salad I made over a year ago.

Everything was done up so nicely by a few terrific host.

Now Ill rest my wrist from crochet while I await for the little one to arrive. He is due around the 11th of July. I may have to be on stand by for something red, white, and blue in case he decides to come on or before Independence day!

We are all excited as we wait on his debut!


Ive shared this at:
judyscardmakingandpapercrafts monday-handmade-linkup
made-by-me-129-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio
what-are-you-doing-wednesday at contentemeant. 

I Blinged My FitBit Flex

I got a new fitbit flex for my birthday from my sweet husband and I love it.
Hold on, I will also show you how I added a little bling to it but first let me tell you a little about this thing.

I had been wanting one of these fitness trackers since they came out.

Its pretty  neat how it works. I set a goal for myself and it tracks my steps, how far I walk, how much I eat, and even tracks my sleep habits and lets me know how well I slept and how many times I was restless each  night.

Here is an example of how mine looked one day.

I use the silent alarm to wake up in the mornings. Yep, this neat little gadget will even vibrate to wake me up when I want it too.

I could go on because it does so much more, but just go to the fitbit.flex website and check out all the cool features for yourself.

You can get these in many different colors but I wanted the slate blue. It looks blue with some outfits and gray with others.

The problem is, they are not too fancy. While I like the sporty and futuristic look of it, I also wanted mine to be different. So I took a trip to to the craft store and bought some bling.

 

Now It feels prettier.

You will see, I didn't add anything to the top part of it, that's because that is where you tap it to put it in sleep mode or see your progress.

I have had my Fitbit for month now and I have lost 5 lbs. It has encouraged me to keep going to reach my goal.

Now I just need to find other friends with a fitbit so we can compete together for extra support and encouragement. I can just log onto the app and it will show all my friends progress in order from the highest to the lowest for the week. This can be fun.

Crochet Car Coasters

Have you ever placed a fast food drink in your car cup holder and find yourself fighting against the puddles of sweat it creates? Here is a little idea I came up with....Ok, well, I'm sure someone else beat me to it somewhere, but I still came up with it at the moment. Its these adorable coasters that will fit in the bottom of the holders. They are made of 100% cotton to absorb the moisture.

If you have a newer car, they have these awesome illuminating interior lights that you can change to different colors. When one of these crocheted coasters are placed in the holders, the lights make them glow. Looks like the coasters themselves light up. pretty neat huh?

Not only will they absorb moisture, but will also absorb any dust and dirt that decides to accumulate in there. No matter how clean we keep our cars, the cup holders (especially the ones with the rubbery liner) are dirt collectors. You can even take them out of the cup holder and use them to wipe pretty much anything you need to wipe such as the speedometer window, radio screen, your sunglasses, kids, and more.

When these little coaster get dirty, you can just throw them in the washing machine. Being 100 percent cotton, they may shrink just a little, so just reshape them and lay flat to dry.

I will share the pattern with you. They are quite simple to make if you know how to crochet a circle. If you can't crochet and would like some of these, you can find them in my Etsy shop ready to go. I have different colors available. My favorite is the blue.

Crochet Car Coasters

finished size is approx 3 inches, this is a standard car cup holder size.

G Hook

• Magic Circle- ch 1
• 10 sc in circle, sl to first sc to join circle, ch 1 (10).
• 2sc in each sc, sl to first sc, ch 1 (20).
• 2sc in same stitch, *1sc in next, 2sc in next* (*cont), sl in first sc, ch 2 (30).
• 1dc in each sc around, sl to first sc, (30) finish off.

I made my husband some gray ones for his truck. They were not made of cotton but he just wanted them for the dirt and dust protection. I found that for his truck, one of his cup holders is bigger than that of my daughters Ford Focus (where the pictures were taken), and his other cup holder was smaller. So if you make any of these, you can just adjust the stitches by one or two at the beginning and it should be fine.

Now go make you some or visit my shop and purchase some already made. Your welcome to use my pattern and idea as you wish but I'd love for you to link back to me if you do.

Ive shared this at:
inspire-me-monday- at create-with-joy 
amaze-me-monday at dwellings-theheartofyourhome  
mix-it-up-monday at flourmewithlove
made-by-me-126-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio
worthwhile-wednesdays at thecraftiestallie
thursday-favorite-things-blog-hop at katherinescorner  
anything-goes at bacontimewiththehungryhypo
city-of-links-party at cityofcreativedreams
dare-to-share at pamspartyandpracticaltips
nifty-thrifty-sunday at niftythriftythings
submarine-sunday at usscrafty

Twenty Years Together

Twenty Years- That's how long I have been married to a wonderful man, my best friend.

He takes care of me and our daughter. We know we are loved and cherished. He can also cook and has our dinner ready and waiting every day when I get home from work. He makes sure we have everything we need and want. Yes, I'm spoiled.

We took a three day trip to the beach to celebrate. It was nice to get to spend some alone time together away from all the bustle of our home town. We got away from all the family matters, work tasks, and politics. We spent numerous hours walking around and down the beach, dreaming of where we would like to see ourselves one day.

The weather was nice. We watched all week as they called for major storms across the state but they managed to pass us by. The first day was rather cloudy and in the 60's. It was a nice day for a walk. We ended up walking at least nine miles. On our walk we saw some sea urchins crawling around in the tide pools along the beach and found two sand dollars and other pretty shells.

We also saw a star fish in which I didn't get a picture because I didn't have my camera with me at that time. Don't you hate when that happens? Someone told us that star fish are deadly if they bite you. ?? Is this true?

The second day was even better, It was mostly sunny and we were able to catch some rays before the clouds rolled in again early in the afternoon. It was clearing up later as the sun was setting. The beauty of the sunset was awesome! God is my favorite artist.

 
The last full day was all sun and in the high 70's. Perfect. I did walk into the ocean but it was freezing cold. We soaked up the vitamin D that day. The pool was empty while everyone was on the sand.

The only complaint I have about the whole trip, is how the camper behind us set his little dogs pin right under our bedroom window, so at 6:00 every morning was "yap yap yap" by two little Chihuahuas. So we were up early and not sleeping in on this trip! Not to mention, we have to hear this every day from our neighbors dog next door.

 You can see in this picture of our camper, bottom right .....Dog pin. grrrr.

Now its back to the grind of my everyday life, counting the days until our next beach trip.

Song Sunday

The pathway is broken and the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reasons why you brought me here.
But just because you love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley if you want me to.

Cause I'm not who I was when I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You’re not through with me yet.
So if all of these trials that bring me closer to You
Then I will go through the fire if you want me to.

And it may not be the way I would've chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But you never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone.

So when the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear you answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering that your love put you through
And I will go through the valley if you want me to.

~Ginny Owens-"If You Want Me Too"

Crochet Beach Theme Cozies

I'm getting excited for summer. That's when I take several beach trips. We will be heading down to the coast in a few days. While I was crocheting last night, thinking of something new to add in my shop, I definitely had the beach on my mind. I crocheted these cute little mug cozies.

Each one was created using a different stitch. I'm feeling happy enough to tell you how I made them so if you crochet you can make one too and if you don't crochet, then head over to my shop and grab one of these cuties.

Sorry I'm not good at writing patterns so I'll just tell how I did it and hope you get it.
I used an H hook. But there is really no rule.

The little camper cozy:

• chain 9
• (starting 2nd chain from hook), sc/dc in stitch, skip, sc/dc in stitch, to end, sc in last stitch. ch2 turn.
• dc in same first stitch, skip, sc/dc in next, to end, last st, sc, ch 2 turn.(you will be doing the sc/dc in the skipped stitch of each row).
• Repeat rows and continue until you have approx. 8 inches long. ch1 turn.
• sc 2together, sc, sc, sc 2together. ch1 turn
• sc each row for 2 more inches (total length of cozy should be approx. 10 inches long).
• on the last sc row- sc, sc, ch2, sc, sc (this makes the button hole). do not finish off
• sc all around the cozy, finsh off, weave ends. sew on button.

Sail boat Cozy:

• Ch 10
• starting 2nd ch from hook, hdc in each ch, ch1 turn
• continue until you have approx. 8 inches long. ch1 turn.
• sc together two times(using up 4 sc), sc across, sc together two last times (using up last 4 sc) ch1 turn
• sc each row for 2 more inches (total length of cozy should be approx. 10 inches long).
• on the last sc row- sc, sc, ch2, sc, sc (this makes the button hole). do not finish off
• sc all around the cozy, finish off, weave ends. sew on button.

Cut out any shape from a piece of felt and stitch on the cozy. Be creative, make it your own. It does not have to be perfectly placed or stitched. This will be one of a kind. Any flaws will make it a unique master piece.

I have put these in my Esty shop and are ready for purchase.
What are some new things you have been putting together lately?


Ive shared this at:
cityofcreativedreams
dwellings-theheartofyourhome
create-with-joy
jaqsstudio
something-fabulous-wednesday at roubinek
worthwhile-wednesdays at thecraftiestallie
submarine-sunday at usscrafty
2crochethooks
monday-handmade-linkup at judyscardmakingandpapercrafts
inspire-me-monday at create-with-joy
mix-it-up-monday at flourmewithlove.