Soup Bowl Cabbage Rolls

This is a great recipe I've found from Taste of Home.

It just uses cabbage, tomatoes, rice, ground beef, and some spices! Wonderfully frugal yet flavorful and healthy!

• 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 small head cabbage, chopped
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

• In a nonstick Dutch oven, cook beef and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the cabbage, water, rice, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, basil, cayenne and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until rice is tender.
• Stir in tomatoes and salt; heat through. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

Note: I add taco seasoning sometimes. It makes it really yummy.

Baby Shoe Tutorial

I went a little crazy making baby shoes this past weekend. I had a baby shower to go to, so I wanted to make something cute. And then, they were just so easy to make, I cut out a whole bunch. (11 pairs, to be exact!) Here is how I made them. I used this pattern but adapted the steps here and there.

To start, you'll need to cut all your pattern pieces out. You won't need much of any one fabric so this is a great way to use up scraps! I used parts of old denim jeans for the soles of the shoes.

First, sew the toe lining and outer piece right sides together along the curve. Turn right sides out and press.
Meanwhile, no picture for this step, but sew the casing together at the edges leaving a 1/4" hole at the TOP of the casing for the elastic.

Take the sole lining and put it wrong sides together with the sole bottom. Pin the toe pieces to the sole bottom with right sides together. (Further explanation: you'll be turning the shoe and want the sole on the bottom to be right side out.)Pin the casing to the back of the shoe. Make sure the elastic hole in the casing is right side up.
Also, check that the casing ends INSIDE of the toe. You don't want the raw edge showing after you turn the shoe.
Sew the seam all around the shoe. Turn it. Now add the elastic through the casing and secure with some hand stitching.
Push the stitching through the casing so it isn't showing.

Last, sew the ends of the casing together. Secure to the top of the shoe with a few neat stitches (these will show). All done! Some lucky baby will have pretty feet!I also adapted this pattern to make bigger slippers for my 18-month old. I just traced around his shoes for the bottom and then just cut the top and back pieces to fit!

Recovered Dining Room Chairs

Sorry, no tutorial for this project. But there are TONS of tutorials out there.

My before picture was very blurry, so I deleted it! But these were covered in navy blue needlepoint covers. This is a big improvement!

Want to Make: Christmas Decorations

Advent garland with lights made of felt!
Really cute Christmas Stockings (love the color combos!)

Stuffed Hippo

We have a slight hippo obsession at our house. Ever since getting our son this book, we all love hippos. They're just funny.

But whatever the case, I made several stuffed hippos this weekend. I learned a new technique to invisibly close my seams from this blog.

Here is one of my stuffed hippos. My son loves it.