Sip and Shop Next week

I am excited about an opportunity to show off my bags at a "Sip and Shop" event next Thursday.  It is actually a happy hour event for a local restaurant and wine bar.  They have invited local etsy sellers to come and set up tables.  It should be a lot of fun.

If you will be in the area, send me an email and I will send you more information.

Handmade dolls

Today I read this tutorial for a Travel Sewing Case.  It is a very cute case, and I briefly thought about making several to give as handmade gifts this year.  I reconsidered because it is not a very good fit for anybody in my family.  I might still make one for myself.  My travel sewing kit usually consists of a needle shoved into a small roll of thread.  I have a needle and thread in my survival pack - but it is just thread wrapped around some paper and a needle stuck in the paper.

After reading the tutorial, I was suddenly struck with a strong desire to make handmade dolls for the holidays.  Not fancy dolls, basic type dolls with an embroidered heart on the chest.  Something soft that a little girl could really cuddle with.  I have wanted to make a handmade doll for Ellie, but I haven't yet.  She does not prefer the handmade stuffed dog I made her - so she will probably not appreciate a handmade doll either.  Maybe she is not old enough to understand.  I just think that a handmade doll conveys a lot more love than a store bought doll, and I would like to make some to sell in my Etsy shop.  Maybe I am kidding myself.  After all, I sell bags and accessories - not toys.  

Operation Hiking Pants Completed

I finished my hiking pants on schedule and tried them out last weekend.  I didn't write a post about them until now because I look like humpty dumpty in the pants, and I didn't want to take any pictures.  Like I said before, I'm pregnant so I left extra room in the tummy area for growing.  All the extra tummy room bunched out to the sides for a very unattractive look.  The pants fit great and look fine otherwise!

Field testing was successful.  It was incredibly cold and windy Saturday and we spent a great deal of time standing around, so I was glad of the thick fleece lining.  Sunday, I added some long john pants and an extra sweatshirt to my ensemble, but it turned out to be a lot milder weather.  Even so, the weight of the pants was good and never felt overheated.

I wasn't able to test the pants out in anything more wet than a light drizzle, thank goodness!  My favorite part of the pants was being able to sit on stumps, hillsides, whatever without having to worry about a wet bottom.  Actually, I loved the pockets too.  And that the pants were so much warmer than what I usually wear.

All in all, the project was a success and I plan to wear them again next weekend.

Four meals in 40 minutes

I bought all the ingredients I needed for the 5 dishes I have planned for my modified version of "Once A Month Cooking".

Last night I started by making a double batch of stroganoff and a double batch of meatloaf.  It didn't take too much longer than cooking dinner and when I was done I had stroganoff to serve, stroganoff to freeze and 3 loafs of meatloaf to freeze.  What did seem to take forever was cutting up all the onions, other than that it was pretty painless.

The stroganoff came out looking a bit like beef puke, but it tasted fine.

I am all set to prepare the three chicken dishes in the next few days.  I am not used to buying so much canned soup, but if it makes life easier, I'm game.

Website Review: Once a Month Mom

Once a Month Mom is all about cooking just one day a month.  There are 6 different monthly menus, complete with recipe cards and instructions.  I was impressed with the traditional menu because it looked like food we would actually eat, and was easy to make.  Other recipe or menu sites I've seen in the past didn't quite fit the bill, the food might look good, but it wouldn't be in a style I was used to preparing.  I knew Once a Month Mom was a good match because the grocery list contained 95% things I already buy regularly.

Even though once a month cooking is a great time saver for a busy mom like me, I still can't find an entire day this month or next month where I can do 7 hours of cooking*.  I wanted to try it anyway because I can imagine how great it would be to have dinner ready - especially on days I go to water aerobics and my husband and daughter are on their own.  (I think they mostly eat hot dogs and mac and cheese, but I'm afraid to ask).  *blocks of time are prime real estate in my life, and weekends are particularly prime

Here's what I decided to do:  I picked out 5 of the menu items that looked easiest and my family is most likely to eat.  My plan is to prepare them in a few hours this weekend.

Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf (Actually I am cheating further and making my mother-in-law's meatloaf instead because I already know it is a hit with my husband - this recipe looks good though)

Salsa Chicken

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Chicken and Stuffing Bake

Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

Each recipe is a double recipe - so if all goes well I will have 10 dinners in the freezer.  That may not cover a whole month of eating, but it will definitely reduce my daily load a bit.

Fun Blog: The Math Mom

I discovered a fun new blog today at The Math Mom.  I regularly read puzzles and today she posted an "Archimedes Grave" brain teaser at Sharp Brains.  I love math, I love puzzles, and I'm a mom - of course I would find the content of this website appealing.  It's also cute and creative - and math doesn't always do a good job of portraying it's fun side.

On The Math Mom she says:

 "By finding your own peace with math you won't be transferring your math fears over to your kids."  


I agree completely. I just read a few days ago that people with "math anxiety" who focused on controlling their emotions got higher scores on a test than "math anxious" people who didn't. To me, this means that a big reason people aren't good at math is due to anxiety, rather than skill. Read that article here.

Trillium's Treasures is now on Twitter!

Trillium's Treasures is on Twitter.  Follow me at "trillstreasures".

Bye bye for now!