Category: Blog

How to make: Buffalo Plaid Pillow Covers

MeganLeave a comment

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Do you have a pillow obsession?  Maybe you have a storage closet just for your decorative pillows? Or maybe you used to have a couch or chair but there are too many pillows and blankets on top of it to even tell at this point??  Does this sound familiar?

Now, with so many more options and sales available daily it’s quite possible to find a great deal on pretty much anything.  With the end of the season/holiday sales to any federal holiday sales, stores and online retailers have a deal waiting for you.  Which I might add can be very tempting because sometimes the deals are too good to pass up.  Right???

I wrote a blog on organizing, de-cluttering , and just figuring out what needs to stay (and more importantly what needs to go).   It always AMAZES me how much “of the stuff” can accumulate in the blink of an eye.  I get it, truly I do.  I am very mindful of clutter and always have the urge to purge things that are no longer useful, functional, or things I’m just done with in my house.  So not to re-write a de-cluttering blog, I will just direct you if you would like to read my blog post Spring has Sprung: It’s time to organize, de-clutter and purge your home

Back on track, many of you probably have several pillows of all shapes, sizes, and textures.  You may like the shape and sizes, but as seasons come and go the pillow colors or themes generally do not transition very well for the look you maybe generally going for.  Again, sounds about right?

Since I did not want to add more bulky pillows to an already overstuffed pillow closet, even though I just saw some super cute pillows, I realized that I can have the same look from the pillows I saw but without the burden of adding more things to my household if I just swap out the pillow cover…genius!!!

The material I am using happened to be one of my favorite, Buffalo Plaid, which I bought from the local craft store as a fleece blanket.  I actually bought two of these fleece blankets because they were half off so two for the price of one in case I messed up I had a backup.  I know this negates trying to use things up and get rid of clutter, but you’re using an existing pillow and swapping out covers which in my mind is a fair trade off!

So now I have a reason, a purpose, to start using my sewing machine my in-laws bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago.  This project turned out to be a great motivator because I have always wanted to use my sewing machine but was actually quite intimidated by it, that was up until a few weeks ago.

Now, word of caution this project will not work on every pillow material or texture, and you may need to have a trial and error period before it looks right; but I promise in the end it actually was worth the time and a little bit of effort I put into to this project.

For this project, I used fleece material because I wanted the fabric to fit nicely around the already existing pillow.  Plus, fleece is great material to work with because not only can it stretch out over the pillow you are using but, this material doesn’t have those funky, bumpy corners on the pillows.  Again, great for any beginners using a sewing machine who are attempting a sewing project.

Step one: Choose your pillow(s).

Step two: Measure your pillow so you can cut your fabric accordingly or buy fabric for this project.  Keep in mind while measuring you should measure a little more than the actual size of the pillow because you have to account for the material outside of the seam.

Step three. Cut your fabric from the appropriate dimensions and pin.  Pinning along the edge allows for you to sew a little bit easier knowing that the fabric won’t suddenly shift out from under the foot of the sewing machine.

Step four. Sew…Slowly

Step five: place your new cover over an existing pillow and YOU DID IT!!!

And that is it.  This project cost me about $10.00 to make and now I have covers to add a cozy log cabin feel WITHOUT cluttering up my house!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Seasoned Potato Wedges with Avocado Aioli

MeganLeave a comment

potato-wedge-4Potatoes or should I say the dirt-dwelling spuds, always seem to get such a bad rap for being that other “white, high starchy carb” on the  “I’m  never ever to eat from this list” list. 

Potatoes are SO much more then what they are given credit for.  I mean some of your fondest memories probably date back to a summer picnic eating hot dogs and French fries? 

Okay so maybe not the best example illustrating their high nutritional value but you get where I’m going.  Potatoes are quintessentially part of the American fabric and are generally a weekly staple in most households.  Spuds usually get overlooked, and for good reason.  Potatoes get fried, sometimes fried again, slathered with butter or margarine, and then finally smothered with additional cheese.  No wonder a person’s blood sugar and blood pressure spike!  Yikes

If you strip away all the fluff and take a closer look at our friendly spud you soon realize the health benefits of  potatoes (with the skin on of course)

Here are just a few of the many benefits:

  • Help reduce inflammation:  Potatoes have high levels of Vitamin C, potassium, and Vitamin B6.
  • Help to maintain healthy blood pressure: Potatoes are high in potassium which encourages vasodilation or the widening of blood vessels helping to stabilize blood pressure.
  • Heart Health:  Potatoes have a significant amount of fiber which help reduce cholesterol in the blood, and they are rich in Vitamin B6 which may reduce levels of homocysteine.  High levels of homocysteine are associated with increased risk of stroke and heart attacks.
  • Protect against Cancer:  Some varieties of potatoes have high levels of carotene and zeaxanthin which help to protect your body from damaging free radicals.

My recipe for seasoned baked potatoes wedges with avocado aioli  was a no-brainer for me to make up especially since I wanted to create a sauce that was dairy-free had a creamy consistency and was full of flavor. I have made these for almost every occasion; Super Bowl parties, summer barbeques, Labor Day weekend gatherings, to Holiday parties these wedges are easy to make and have as an appetizer anytime.

Ingredients:

  • 5-7 medium to large potatoes
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • Spray
  • Any other additional spices you want


Aioli Dipping Sauce:

  • 1-2 Avocados
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Salt to taste


Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. In a blender mix up the avocados, red onions, lemon juice, garlic, and salt
  3. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and slice potatoes into wedges add spices for flavor
  4. Bake 35-40 minutes until slightly golden and crispy

Guys that is it! 

Your appetizers are done!

Enjoy

Who’s ready for some Puppy Chow?

MeganLeave a comment

puppy-chow-2Who doesn’t love Puppy Chow?  Or maybe you grew up calling it Muddy Buddies, either way, this easy, quick and almost perfect snack hits all the high notes from just enough sweet to a creamy; peanut buttery chocolatey crunch!!!  Basically, the perfect, okay downright IRRESISTABLE kinda snack!
How can something this good have a healthier version? 

Never fear, I would never talk about one of my ALL-TIME favorite snacks/treats and NOT give you a healthier version that even your absolute toughest critics would ever know they were actually eating something healthier.  This snack is great for on the go or snacking at home, to holiday or birthday parties to after-school treats this snack is truly a WIN-WIN for everyone!

This particular version of ‘Puppy Chow’ is not only EASY to make, and Amazingly delicious, BUT it’s also Dairy Free, Gluten-Free, and Vegan…BUT still equally Delicious!! However, if you choose to go the traditional route, the recipe is very easy to swap out any ingredients and replace ingredients of your choice!!!

For my ingredients, I did choose organic and dairy-free options.  By no means do you have to use these exact ingredients?

Happy Snacking!

Ingredients:

  • 9 cups of Rice Cereal (basically 1 box)
  • 2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips (or if you do not have a dairy issue use regular Chocolate chips)
  • 2/3 cup Organic peanut butter
  • ¼ cup Organic coconut oil
  • 3-4 cups Organic powdered sugar (I like mine less messy and sweet)

Directions:

  1. Measure out your rice cereal, dairy-free chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut oil, and powdered sugar. Also, this would be a great time to get out a gallon sized plastic sealed bag. The bag is very useful when it comes time to evenly distribute the powdered sugar over every square!
  2. Make sure you have a large enough pan you can easily combine the melted chocolate, peanut butter, coconut oil, over the rice cereal.
  3. Add the 9 cups of rice cereal in the pan and try to make sure the chocolate and peanut butter are covering all the rice cereal.
  4. Taking small batches of the chocolate rice cereal I placed the mixture in the gallon sized bag and poured in small amounts of the powdered sugar.  Seal the bag and shake generously until the powdered sugar is covering the cereal.  Repeat until you’re finished.

*You may want to start off will a lesser amount of the mixture in the plastic bags so you can evenly coat the rice cereal with powdered sugar.