The Fresh 20

I'm in love with The Fresh 20 and I have to spread the word!  http://www.thefresh20.com/

I've been married three months now and already hate that daily dreaded question....What's for Dinner?  How many of us spend hours looking through cookbooks and pinterest to gather ideas for weekly menu planning?  How many of us don't meal plan then end up eating out more than you want?  And how many of us are really eating enough fruit & veggies? The Fresh 20 is the answer to all my meal planning worries.

Every Friday a meal plan is posted on the Fresh 20 website.  I signed up for the Gluten Free Menu Plan.  They also have options of Classic Menu or Vegetarian/Vegan to choose from too.  Your annual subscription includes a shopping list of 20 Fresh Food Items, Preparation Guide, Recipes for 5 weeknight dinners and nutritional values of each meal.  The annual subscription is the equivalent to one dinner for two people at a nice restaurant.  Read more on how it works. http://www.thefresh20.com/how-it-works/

Initially, there is the added expense of stocking your pantry with 20 recommended items to have at all times.  For this week, I found everything at Wal-Mart except one item. I’ll be making one extra stop for fresh shrimp for tonight’s dinner.  (Some things should not be bought at Wal-Mart and Shrimp is one of them.) Shopping took about 1½ hours on Saturday.  On Sunday, I prepped for three hours by roasting 2 whole chickens and slicing it up for several meals this week, chopping veggies and making an enchilada sauce.  Last night was my first meal and it only took 20 minutes to warm the chicken up and to cook veggies.  The point of it all is to spend your time in the kitchen over the weekend and that saves valuable time during your hectic work week.

My First Experience of Roasting Whole Chickens.  YUMMM!

Thanks to the blog of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef http://glutenfreegirl.com/  for sharing this resource!  I think I’m going to like this alot!

2013 Garden Begins!

Gardening in the Staub Family is a way life.  Not so much on the Pratt Family side, but I am learning.

We started our indoor plantings this week.  We planted sweet peppers: 2 kinds of Yellow (they are my favorite), green and purple.

Two Skirts & Travel Towel

I have finally figured out how to upload photos since I reset my password.  I guess it was more like actually taking the time to figure it out.  Now that it is fixed...I give you photos.

I finished my Christmas Tree Skirt.  I was hoping to have it done for our first married Christmas, but let's face...the last few months have flown by.  So, we are ready for 2013 and many more Christmas' to come.  The hardest part was cutting a finished quilted piece, but I had too, or else it wasn't fitting around that tree.  I got the idea and step by step instructions from one of my favorite websites, The Missouri Star Quilt Company.  Here's the tutorial: http://quiltingtutorials.com/all/quilt-adorable-christmas-tree-skirt/

I also made another skirt, this one to wear.   It is my first attempt in making clothing.  I started with a very simple idea.  Here's that tutorial. http://vimeo.com/26612612   I don't know where I would be without all these wonderful tutorials.  Here's a horrible, fuzzy photo with me having crazy eyes.

I had a super awesome sew day with my friend Stephanie last weekend and I made this skirt.  She was very helpful since I had no previous knowledge of making clothes.  I also made another pattern and skirt out of muslin.  I got this skirt idea from Pinterest.  Here's the link. http://www.oneaviandaemon.com/?p=328
Since I had to make the pattern from her instructions, I made it out of muslin to save on wasting my cute fabric. This second skirt will be my first attempt of ever sewing in a zipper.  It's kinda scary.

My last creation to share today is simply a hand towel with a few straight lines to form pockets to carry toothbrushes & toothpaste.  Don't you hate getting hair in your tooth brush?  Or have everything else in your toiletry bag get wet?  Do you and your husband have different toothpastes? Well, just use the towel and throw it in the wash when you get home.  I got the idea off Pinterest but the link was to a girls Etsy shop.  I figured I could do it on my own. 

2013 Goals

Yes, I am aware that we are almost finished with February 2013 as I write this post.  I drafted my 2013 Goals during the end of December and the wee days of January.  I didn't want to jump on posting the goals right away, I had to let them soak in for awhile.  So, here we go....

In 2013 I want to:

Lap Swim in Winter
Yoga

More canning of garden treats
Race the Illinois MTB series in Sport Class
Cook More
Attempt to Meal Plan every week
Have a slumber party with my nieces
Perfect Gluten Free Pie Crust & GF Bread
Cook a Roast
Learn to use Mike's Grills
Make more time to cuddle
Write more love letters
Make Soup
Sewing Projects (this is a completely separate spreadsheet of all projects I want to finish in 2013)
Lose 10 pounds
Sew Days with Girlfriends
Make a Skirt
Buy Work Pants that actually fit
Plan Vacations

With posting these late, I can report that some items are already crossed off!! Yes!

Hello 2013! It's going to be a good year!

Thanksgiving, Wedding, Honeymoon, Moving, Christmas, New Year's, Name Change & Sewing

2013 Here I am.  Been a bit busy enjoying life, friends, family and the newness of marriage.  Life is sooo good right now and I'm loving it.

Here's what I've been up to:

AND....Finally finished 3 Table runners.  Love the coffee fabric

 AND...made Key Chains for Christmas Presents.....

 AND...Finished four squares with the Black & White Quilt.  44 More to GO!!

Christmas Stockings

My Project List was created over a year ago and I finally finished one of them and it felt so good to cross it off the list.  My sister requested last Christmas for two Christmas Stockings for her twin girls.  My neices are 3 1/2 and now have their very own custom made stocking for this Christmas and many more in their future.  I didn't want to do anything too childish where they would grow out of. So, I chose some fabric that I had from making stockings last year plus some more fabric from after Christmas sales last year.   This is how they turned out.  I think Ellie & Clara will like them.  My sister like them so much she requested two more for next year for her and my brother in law.  The request has been added to my 2013 project list.

Pineapple Delight

This is a table runner that I made for my friend Amy who LOVES pineapples!  It was suppose to be a Christmas gift last year, but I couldn't get around to finishing it.  I finally finished the binding and was able to gift it to her on her birthday in August.  I found the pineapple fabric in St. Louis when I was there shopping with my sister-in-law a couple years ago.  I saw it and just had to make something for Amy with it.  She loved it!

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