30 Before 30

I'm leaving this list a little more open ended so it's not so much pressure to do specific things, but rather a framework for things I want to do more of and I can fill them in as I go. I've put a few in that I'm planning on doing already.

30 Before 30

Sew:
1. Christmas quilt
2. Christmas tree skirt
3. Triangle quilt
4. Quilt for Dan
5. 

Be Crafty:
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Cook/Bake New Things:
11.
12.
13.
14.

Get Organized:
15. Teacher Closet
16.
17.
18.


Be Involved in Charity Work:
19. Volunteer at Food Depository
20. Do the park building charity
21. Habitat for humanity
22.
23.

Go On Adventures:
24.
25.
26.

Learn How To Do Something New:
27. How to french braid my own hair
28. 
29.

30. Read At Least 12 Books A Year

25 Before 25 Update

I am now 25 and it's time to look at the list again:

25 Before 25

1. Lose 25 pounds Sadly I haven't

2. Keep the weight off! Sadly I haven't

3. Run a 5k without stopping to walk Sadly I haven't

4. Leave the country again Sadly I haven't..$$$

5. See the redwood forest Sadly I haven't...$$$

6. Sew a piece of clothing for myself Sadly I haven't, wanna wait until I lose the weight
8. Finish my Snuggie project Sadly I haven't, dropped the ball on this one

11. Finish trim on my first quilt for myself  I'm doing this once I finish the purple quilt

12. Make my purple quilt I'm working on this now

13. Go camping in a tent again I'm doing this in August with Corey

14. Dress at a reenacting event again I'm doing this in September

15. Make a full Indian dinner from scratch Sadly I haven't, dropped the ball on this one, doing it later this summer

22. Donate a large of sum of money to a charity (several hundreds of dollars) Sadly I haven't, my money situation hasn't turned into what I was hoping for

23. Caption my New Zealand photo albums Sadly I haven't, dropped the ball on this one, doing it later this summer

21. Read 52 books (1.The Alchemyst  2.HP & the SS  3.HP & the CoS  4.HP & PoA  5.HP & GoF 6.HP & OotP 7. HP & HPB 8. HP & DH  9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 10. The Girl Who Played With Fire 11. Farmer Boy 12. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest  13. Twilight14. The Four Season Harvest  15. Touching Spirit Bear 16. Dinosaurs Before Dark 17. Midnight on the Moon 18.  Artemis Fowl 19. Eragon 20. Please Write In This Book 21. The Foretelling 22. Afternoon On the Amazon 23. Dolphins Before  Daybreak 24. Eldest 25. Evernight 26.  The Good Life 27. This Side of Paradise 28. Freedom 29. Brisingr 30. The Magician 31.  The Sorceress 32. Hate That Cat 33.Powerless 34. The Mostly True Tales of Homer P. Figg 35. A Stolen Life 36. Flygirl 37. I  Can't Keep My Own Secrets 38. The Lottery Winner 39. The Hunger Games 40. Catching Fire 41. Mockingjay 42.Inheritance  43. Phantom Tollbooth 44. Alice In Charge 45. Incredibly Alice 46. Multiple Blessings 47.The Golden Compass 48. The Subtle  Knife 49. Let's Pretend This Never Happened 50. The False Prince 51. 50 Shades of Grey 52. 50 Shades Darker 53. 50 Shades  Freed)

 7. Sew a piece of clothing for my nephews & my niece  (D- a cape, M- a dress, E- monkey Halloween costume)

9. Make my nephew D.'s tooth pillow Done!

10. Make Dad's quilt

16. Find the perfect sugar cookie recipe 

17. Find the perfect homemade cake frosting recipe

18. Have a window garden 

19. Pay off my car loan

20. Make a niece & nephews photo album

24. Get good at applying eye liner

25. Learn how to cook with tofu

I wish I had finished more, but once I'm done with the few I have plans for I'll have done 17 out of 25.

Some of these are too hard to do this summer and are being incorporated into my 30 Before 30 List.

Dress Preview!

I'll post a giant detailed post probably on Tuesday, but for now here is a cell phone picture of my niece wearing the dress that I made for her!  But please note that it would not have happened without my mom's help!

Pizzaaaaaaaaa

I followed the recipes from John & Elana Talk About Food.

Let's check on the dough my boyfriend started:

And here are the carmelized onions:

Here is the final rise of the dough:

And the dough is rolled out and covered in Gruyere cheese:

 And here are the carmelized onions:

Done!  It was tasty, but I ended up adding garlic powder to more zing.

And I also made a sundried tomato and basil pizza:

Next time I used sundried tomatoes I'll put them under the cheese so they don't burn to a crisp :(

And here is my boyfriend's carmelized onion, gruyere, and chicken pizza:

Homemade Hummus!

I LOVE hummus!  The only store brand I like is Athenos.  But it is really expensive ($4-5 a tub).  I haven't calculated how much this costs, but I'd guess $1 at most.  The most expensive item is the garbanzo beans/chickpeas are 62 cents. 

Hummus

1 can garbanzos/chickpeas, RINSED
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on your love of garlic)
cumin, to taste
garam marsala to taste
pinch of salt

 

1. Please rinse your beans.  This lowers the salt content, plus that canning liquid is gross.

 

2. Put everything in your food processor.  I use lots of cumin. But sadly I was out of garam marsala (a delicious Indian spice blend).

 

3. Blend!  Then taste to see if you need to add any more spices:

 

4. Eat with delicious pita chips:

Pasta With Tomato Cream Sauce

I got this delicious recipe from The Pioneer Woman and you should go right here to see her pictures because they are much, much, much better than mine.  Also her blog is pretty much my favorite everrrrrrr.  (Every time I try to add her to my blog-roll at the very bottom on this site it doesn't work.  Conspiracy against Pioneer Woman?  I think so.)

1. Cook onions and garlic in olive oil and butter.  Next time I'll choose either butter or olive oil, I think both were unnecessary:

2. Add in two cans of tomato sauce (I used 1 can sauce and 1 can tomato puree because I wanted a thicker sauce):

 4. Mix it all up:

5. Add in some pepper and a bit of sugar:

6. Let it cook down for 20-30 minutes (check out that steam!):

7. Add in 1 cup heavy cream (I used 1/4 heavy cream and 3/4 half & half):

8. Swirl it around to make a gorgeous shade of orange:

9. Add in lots of parmesan cheese:

10. Add in your chosen cooked pasta and mix well:

11. Add fresh basil on top when you serve it.  Please, please, please do this step!  The taste of fresh basil complements the sauce PERFECTLY:

Pasta With Tomato Cream Sauce
from The Pioneer Woman

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (15 Ounce Each) Tomato Sauce Or Marinara Sauce
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Dash Of Sugar (more To Taste)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Grated Parmesan Or Romano Cheese, To Taste
Fresh Basil, Chopped
1-½ pound pasta

Preparation Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for a minute or so.

3. Pour in tomato sauce and add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Stir and cook over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Remove from heat and stir in cream.

5. Add cheese to taste, then check seasonings.

6. Stir in pasta and chopped basil and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Apple Bread or Muffins

I know it looks like I put a giant pat of butter on my muffin, but I'm not crazy, I put a giant pat of CREAM CHEESE on my muffin.  The flash just messed with it.

 There are lots of pictures missing for this recipe and that's because my boyfriend and I started making these and then part way through I remembered, oh right!  I have a crafty blog and should be photographing this for a post.

Pumpkin Apple Bread or Muffins
recipe from food.com


3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (such as Libby's)
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice (or water)
2 apples, peeled, cored, & diced

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray pans with Pam (2 loaf pans or 1 loaf pan and 1 muffin tray). Or be fancy with butter and flour.


2. In a small bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, & salt.

3. In a large bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, & apple juice until well-blended.

4. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture.

5. Fold in diced apples.

6. Spoon mixture into loaf or muffin pans or both if you're indecisive like me. 

7. Bake for 60 minutes for loaf pan(s) and about 40 for muffins.

I want to learn how to knit

 so I can make this gorgeous scarf:

Overnight French Toast Casserole

Overnight French Toast Casserole
originally from food.com

12 pieces of bread
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 sprinkle of nutmeg
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

1. Spray 9 x 13 casserole dish with Pam:

 2. Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg:

3. Put 6 pieces of bread in the casserole dish:

4. Sprinkle them with the sugar mixture and spread evenly with the spoon:

5. Add another bread layer:

6. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the bread:

7. Crack 4 eggs in a bowl:

8. Scramble them and add a dash of vanilla:

9. Add the milk:

10. Mix in the milk:

11. Pour the eggy-vanilla-milk over the bread and evenly distribute using the spoon:

12. All ready for the fridge!:

13. After a night in the fridge:

14. After baking for 25 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered:

 
This is a fun recipe to modify.  If you have leftover cinnamon or pumpkin bread you can make it using that bread instead.  You can also insert fruit into the bottom and middle layers (it will dry out on the top layer).  I like to serve it with Crockpot Apple Pie Filling instead of using maple syrup or honey.