day 328: edible toothpicks

we love you ma ... couldn't be prouder of you :)

day 328 and it's the big day so its a QUICK and i mean QUICK post ... my mums last day of work forever ... bring on retirement :)

I couldn't be prouder of her and the wonderful life she gave me sister and i because of all the hard work she has done over the years.  for me it is beyond gratifying to see her retire and start this new phase of her life where every decision she makes is for her and her alone ... love you ma.

as such, we had some celebrating to do tonight ... so i made these

cheese on pretzel sticks!

they were inspired by the ones made at women living well and are pinned to my party ideas board ...

what you need, plus 10 minutes

chop the cheese, hold the pretzel low, push down ... 

... and whala a plate of nibbles are prepared :)

as for the outcome ... they were gone SO fast, i had to make more.  and then the ideas on how you could add fruit (like pineapple), use chocolate, antipasto goodies, and all sorts on these edible toothpicks .. yes, these are my new favourite thing to pimp ... go by yourselves some pretzel sticks and see what creations you can come up with.

awesome idea by women living well, these are going to be my new party go to for all types of different occasions!

day 327: felt flowers

the finished felt peonies ... so pretty :)

day 327 and things are really exciting at our place this week as my mum is going to retire tomorrow, nine months early!  i am so proud of her, she has worked so hard all her life and it is really rewarding seeing her move into a life after work where she can make daily choices according to her whim.  tonight we are going out to dinner with all her workmates and i am taking along some champagne.  as it's a special occasion i wanted to dress the bottles up a bit :)  on my paper crafts board, is pinned a template for making these paper/felt flowers. this is so apt for my mum as she plans to spend a lot of her retirement in the garden.  the template and design comes from yoonie at home and her completed flowers were used to adorn hair clips.  i figured i could glue a flower to each bottle with a little message.

i printed out the free template provided by yoonie at home on paper and then used the cut out  templates to trace out the patterns on felt.  then it was a case of assembling them according to the instructions.

what you need to complete today's project

all the cutting complete, not the fun part, the making!

the finished peony complete with leaves

and then they found their way to the bottles :)

outcome: so cute.  i have kept the templates for the future as these flowers would look gorgeous adorned to all sorts of things including presents, pillows, frames, towels, wreathes, cards, and just about anything else you can dream up!

my thanks to yoonie at home for the brilliant template that is definitely easy to replicate on felt and super easy to put together into flowers :)

day 326: healthy apple butter cake

the apple butter cake ... beautiful 

day 326 and i am amazed at the variations i see on pinterest for cake mixes ... everything from soda to yoghurt to apple ... and that last one is the one i am keen to try today.  can you really make a cake with just a cake mix, purée apple, and water?  today was the day i was ready to find out!  this "recipe" comes from hungry girl and it's one of many she has for healthier versions of cake mixes.  the recipe is also pinned to my weight watchers recipes happy days board on pinterest.

as stated this cake requires only apple purée, a cake mix, and water.  you put everything in a bowl and mix, then pour into your cake tin and whip it into the oven.  i used a ring tin sprayed with rice bran oil for this cake to try something a little different.  it took 2 minutes to make, one of which was used trying to find my scissors ;o]

the ingredients + water

mix

pour and bake ... yes, this was not rocket science ;)

the result ... i can not tell you how good this was, just try it!

outcome: STOP THE PRESSES, OMG, WHOOP WHOOP, and anything else you would care to add to this fantastic cake's checklist ... YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT STRAIGHT OUT OF OVEN, it tastes like apple pie or an apple steamed pudding ... we all keep saying OMG, seriously one of my favourite recipes of my p365 year so far.  steve wouldn't/couldn't stop eating it and over half the cake was gone by the end of the evening.  we had it with lite whipped cream (like a fat free cool whip) and it was divine!  try this cake warm on a cool autumn winters evening and you will be the favourite in your home all night long :)

what steve left of the cake ... although the night is still young ;)

many, many, many thanks to hungry girl for this recipe, i will make this often in the winter months because it only takes 2 minutes to make and is as good as an apple pie any day!

day 325: creamy crockpot apple oatmeal

delicious, crockpot apple oatmeal :)

day 325 and the temperatures and definitely dropping as we head towards winter.  i figured a wholesome warm afternoon tea was in order for the peeps AND i wanted to try this recipe from stephanie.  stephanie is responsible for the blog crockpot 365 ... such a good idea to do something for 365 day don't you think ;)  this recipe is pinned to my recipe must do's board on pinterest.

this recipe is so cool, you gather up the the six ingredients and pop them in the crockpot, stir briefly, and walk away for about 1 and 1/2 hours.  i LOVE baking that doesn't need you to be there in the kitchen.  i went for a walk on the treadmill will the baking was taking place in the crockpot.  because i am a slightly impatient person with two peeps who think they will expire if not feed regularly, i went with the high setting.  if cooking on low, the oatmeal will take 2-3 hours instead.

the ingredients

the preparation ... and cooking :)

the finished, gobbled up oatmeal :)

outcome:  YUM~!  seriously good and the peeps LOVED it.  it was all gone in less than 15 minutes, hungry little munchkins that thought hot oatmeal on a cool autumn afternoon was a sensational idea :)  and the best part is, i get all the credit without doing anything laborious!!!

big thanks to stephanie from crockpot 365 for this awesome recipe.  if i get steve to put this on when he leaves for work in the morning, the peeps and i will get up to a very delicious breakfast, hot breakfast during those cold days in winter ... really good idea aye honey ;)

day 324: popsicle stick bird feeders

happiness is a bird feeder made with a little peeps hands :)  she also took the photo ;)

day 324 and we are well and truly back into the swing of being at school.  today polly's art project came from pinterest!  she had to make a bird feeder out of popsicle sticks.  art is polly's favourite subject and i use pinterest ALL the time to find new and different creative projects for her to tackle.

today's project comes from tonya staab, who used the bird feeders as a craft at her x-treme craft party for 4 and 5 year olds ... brave woman!  it is pinned to my home school projects board on pinterest.  the party tonya hosted looked so amazing i also also pinned it to my party ideas board ... in my wildest dreams i would host such a party, but that's what pinterest is about, right? dreams and ideas to hope for in the future !?!?  any ho, even if you don't want to make a bird feeder, check out the post to see the party :)

for today's creation you will need 50 popsicle sticks, glue, and some twine.  we altered from the actual instructions and didn't use the tongue depressor sticks as i couldn't find any, instead using two popsicle sticks together.  you will also need something to feed the birds with once the project is finished :)  polly was very enthusiast as she took on this task, and as you will see in the photos the concentration levels were very high ... yes that tongue remained out during the entire project~!

what you need

look at the concentration ... ;)

that tongue hanging out is clearly important to the whole artist process :)

so she didn't have to thread the twine through i made sure it was put through and then the popsicle stick was glued on top to make it easier for her

pollyanna's goodies for the birds

filling the new bird feeder

big brother checking out the progress of the completed bird feeder, hung and ready for the native birds!

outcome:  she was one happy little lady with her bird feeder!  and so she should be, it is really neat and not too difficult a project to take on by herself.  pollyanna really appreciated being able to do it independently as she was really proud of the bird feeder she had "made my(her)self".  the birds i am sure will be gathering to give it a go too, especially with the fruit and nut mix polly put inside ... actually made me a little hungry ;)

my thanks to tonya staab for this wonderful craft that peeps can take on and do themselves.  i love it when polly takes on a project and shas such satisfaction at the end, knowing she was able to achieve it under her own steam :)  i shall definitely be back looking for more inspiration from tonya, who is clearly one very talented lady.

day 323: orange and pecan loaf

the finished orange and pecan loaf :)

day 323 and we had an open home for selling our house today so i wanted nice smells wafting about the house as potential buyers wandered around :)  this pecan and orange loaf looked easy and scrummy and even semi healthy!

the recipe comes from recipes.com and is pinned to my recipe must do's board on pinterest.  i liked that this recipe used lots of whole foods and i replaced the white flour with whole wheat flour to make it even healthier.  as i wanted it fresh out of the oven for the open home, i also decided i wouldn't ice it either.  apart from those amendments i used the recipe as stated on the website.

in one bowl you mix these ingredients

in another bowl you mix these ingredients

then you mix these two bowls together

it then goes into the oven for 45 minutes

out comes a delicious loaf that's really good, so good you will have that second piece :)

outcome:  the smell was beautiful, full of warm orange baking filled the house.  when we returned after the open home, the taste did not disappoint either.  the loaf has a carrot cake texture to it but with oranges and pecans instead of carrots and walnuts!  you even feel healthy as you eat this loaf because it has that yummy wholesome taste about it ... ok i may be dreaming but as i start training on my quest to go from couch (or in my case bed) to 5km tomorrow, i decided i was happy with the second piece i had :)  yes, no wonder the weight i put on while cast thanks to my back is not tumbling off ... i may need to stop with the pinterest recipes until its gone.  don't think that would go down well with the rest of my house mates ;)


my thanks to recipes.com and it's contributors for providing me yet another wonderful recipe to feed my family and make them thankful i live with them!  have a great finish to your weekends everyone :)

day 322: avocado, potato, and spinach salad

the avocado, potato, and spinach salad ... definitely making this again!

day 322 and i am making a salad tonight for dinner to go with some delicious fresh fish ... yummo!  i found this potato and avocado salad from two spoons, which looked scrumptious.  as i had all the ingredients it was a no brainer for today's creation!  this salad is also pinned to my salad bar board on pinterest.

you need lemon, mustard, baby spinach, potatoes, avocado, and some good oil olive for this salad.  you cube the potatoes and cook until soft. while the potatoes are doing their thing in the pot, you mix together the dressing.  once the dressing is made you chop in the avocado and spinach.  then finally adding in the warm potatoes.  the nice thing about adding in the potatoes warm is they soak up the dressing :)

mixing the dressing, i would use this dressing on plenty of other salads as well, it's really lovely mix with the dijon, lemon, and oil olive.

look at those potatoes soaking up all that goodness!

it went really well with the fish!

outcome: we had it warm and it was really good, everyone bar the peeps who don't like avocado went back for seconds.  it is definitely a salad i would always serve warm instead of cold because all the dressing ends up being absorbed into the potatoes making it so delicious in every bite.  absolutely doing this recipe again!

my thanks to two spoons for the recipe, doubled it is perfect for a family of five/six as a side salad and totally worth making ... it's recipes like this that make me grateful the peeps aren't currently into eating avocados!