Sausage Poboys

 I went on a Poboy kick for a while! These were Awesome so I wanted to share! We used some yummy deer sausage, romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes, creole mustard and mayo = yum!

Nursing cover

 These were too easy to make! They have beautiful ones for sale but they are so expensive! Or the ones I found that I could afford I  hated the pattern! I made TWO of these for about $25 for everything! So, you need:

~ 3/4 yard two fabrics that you like. If you do not want two layers of fabric you can buy one. I suggest a lightweight cotton.
~ thread to match
~ 1 foot of boning wire. This is boning that you would put in a prom dress or a corset.
~ a set of 2 D hooks

 First make the drawstring for the neck.
Cut 3'' strip

Fold and pin right sides together. Sew one end closed and down the side. 

 Turn in the end you sewed closed.

 Insert a dowel rod (or something equally thin) into the pocket you have made. Start turning your drawstring right side out onto the dowel rod.

 Pull dowel rod out and pull the rest of the fabric out. Iron.

 Repeat the same process for the loop for the D hook. It will be a 3" by 6" rectangle.

Lay out your two pieces of fabric right sides together

Measure out the center of your fabric and where your drawstring, D hooks and boning are going to be. Position your boning in the center.

 Position the D hooks loop about 1in to the right of where your boning will be. Pin the fabric loop INSIDE your fabric.

If your are not using two pieces of fabric, you can add the loops later or sew your loops into your folded edges.

Repeat the same process for the drawstring (except on the other side of course)

I pinned the excess drawstring on the inside so I wouldn't accidentally sew over it!

This is what you will see when it is pinned. Be sure to take your boning out and set to the side.

Sew around all the edges leaving enough space to be able to flip your cover right side out. 

Thread the boning to the inside of the cover and position it in the center again. Position the plastic side on the top. Sew below the plastic onto the fabric part of the boning.

Iron and your done! A fun project that took about an hour and $25 and I had two beautiful gifts to give to my two lovely pregnant friends!

Chicken and sausage gumbo

I made this with the the help of my house mate, her sister in law and Emril. Gumbo is something that I have always wanted to learn how to make but was too intimidated. My family is from Texas and Oklahoma so I grew up learning how to cook Tex Mex and, my mom's specialty, ground meat and stuff in a skillet. But I did grow up in south Louisiana so I feel like I should know how to cook cajun as well. So this is my gumbo, that is approved by Melanie, a self proclaimed gumbo snob! Hopefully I can remember proportions!

1 c okra
1 T sofrito or tomato paste
1 lb sausage (andouille traditionally or your favorite)
1 c flour
1 c onion
1 c celery
1 c bell pepper
Water
1 whole hen or whole chicken or chicken pieces of your choice with bone in and skin on
1-2 T slap yo mama (creole seasoning)
2 bay leaves

Dice okra. "De-slime" the okra by cooking it with the sofrito in a Dutch oven on med heat for about 10 min. Take out and set to the side.

Render the fat from the sausage. If that is not enough fat, throw in some bacon fat. Take out sausage and set to the side.

To make the roux: Gradually whisk enough flour into the fat until it almost a paste-like consistency. Let roux cook on med heat (just bubbling not rolling) until it is caramel colored. If you like a dark roux gumbo, let it cook until it is chocolate colored. It's a fine line between burnt and perfect so keep a close eye on it!

Add onions, celery, pepper and de-slimed okra and let cook until onions are wilted. Add enough water to fill your Dutch oven, 9 or 10 cups of water. Add chicken and cook until the meat is falling off the bone, 5-7 hours. Take the chicken out and de-skin/fat/bone and add the meat back in. Add andouille. If there is too much fat on the top of the gumbo, skin off the fat. (You can save the fat and use it in future recipes, like beans.) The key to a really good gumbo is letting it cook for a long time.  I like to let mine cook 10 hours minimum.

My week

Let me tell you about the past week in my life! I am a part of a church plant called Vintage. This year we are in the process of planting a new campus in Metairie that my family and I have become involved in. We have been doing a lot of remodeling in the church building and have had some mission teams to help with construction. My husband went Monday to go help and by Tuesday he volunteered me to come help paint.

This past week we had three church groups come down from Mississippi totaling about 150 people. Brother Troy, one of the pastors, offered for some of the youth girls to help watch our ten month old. He got passed around to every person there, including Mr. Burlon who ended up giving him tea, coffee AND frosted mini wheats. But I guess with all the grandparents Nehemiah has, that's not the worst thing he has eaten or will eat.

Kristie was in charge of the construction. She was this wonderful woman originally from Wisconsin, so she had this northern accent with some random southern drawl thrown into it. I don't know how she stayed sane with all these people coming up asking questions constantly. I heard her say, at one point towars the end of the week, that she couldnt't even remember her own name except for the fact that she keeps hearing it every three seconds!

God did some amazing things this week! They had a VBS in the mornings. We got to see FOUR salvations! Brother Troy came running through the church and hollered at everyone working in the auditorium about it. On Thursday we had a block party and had a good turn out. We met a few people who seemed real interested in Vintage and what we were doing in the city.

Personally though, I have never been so blessed by a group of people that I just met. Brother Troy's group decided to find someone in need that they could help out while they were here. Out of all the people that needed help and all the things that needed to be done, they chose our family. This group of mostly high school kids took up a love offering for us. The relief on Chris' face when brother Troy gave that envelope to him. We are now going to be able to pay our bills this month. I can not tell you what that feels like. We were in a place of great need financially and God answered that prayer. He used this awesome group of people that we spent a week with to take care of us when we needed help. I am so thankful.

If you would like to check out Vintage and all we are doing, visit our website Vintage Church and please visit us on Sunday mornings! I would love to meet you!

Breakfast quesadillas

 I made these for my wonderful husband today. We had a perfect avocado so I had to make something with them!

Ingredients
tortillas
4 pieces of bacon
1 avacado
4 eggs
splash of milk
slap yo mama or salt and pepper
1/2 c (or more) your favorite white cheese

Slice the avocados. Mix eggs with a splash of milk and seasoning. Scramble eggs. Assemble the  quesadilla in a large skillet. If you use a lid on the skillet the cheese will melt before the tortilla burns! I like to serve it with salsa or spicy mayo (mayo and slap yo mama)

Projects from Oklahoma

 I made this for my mom. She wanted a headband for when they go on motorcycle rides. I called it a remnant headband because I used all different yarns with all different textures. It turned out pretty neat!

 The picture for this headband does not do it justice. The blue piece on the top is big and fuzzy.

 I made these for my housemate. Her sister in law just had twins. They are going to make sweet newborn pictures!

 flower pin clips

 I was inspired from the thing one thing two hats. I made these hair pins as well.

 bow hair pin

Thing one thing two hats and diaper covers

Pancakes with a quick strawberry jam

 This quick jam recipe has become one of my favorite breakfasts to make! It is quick and easy, and of course delicious!

Quick jam

Ingredients
2 c strawberries coarsely chopped
1/4 c sugar
water


Place sugar and berries in saucepan. Cover berries with water. Let simmer until jam has thickened, about 20 min. Pour over pancakes or biscuits.

Fried green tomato po-boy with a shrip remoulade

 These are my first veggies that I got out of my garden! I was so excited! I even got to use green tomatoes that i grew for this recipe

 Fried green tomatoes
 Ingredients
   1 c veggie oil
   4 or 5 green tomatoes
   1c flour
   1 T Slap yo mama or seasoning of your choice
   1 egg
   1 c milk
   1 t crystal hot sauce 
   1 c seasoned breadcrumbs

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet. you want to have about 1/2 an in of oil in the pan. an easy way to tell when it is done is to toss a pinch of flour into the oil. If it sizzles quickly it is hot enough.
While the oil is heating up, slice the tomatoes about 1/2 in thick. Have thee dishes, I used brownie pans, to coat the tomatoes. In the first mix the flour and slap yo Mama. In the second mix the egg, milk and hot sauce. In the third, put the bread crumbs. Coat the tomatoes in each mixture. pan fry to a golden brown.

 Remoulade
Ingredients
1/2 c tarragon vinegar
2 T Ketchup
4 T creole mustard
1 T paprika
1 t salt
3 cloves garlic smashed
1 c olive oil
1/2 c minced green onion
1/2 c minced celery
1 lb of shrimp cooked

In a blender mix vinegar, ketchup, mustard, paprika, salt, pepper and garlic. While blending, add oil gradually. Put in green onion and celery and blend for a few seconds. Marinate cooked shrimp for an hour before serving.

Assemble sandwich. As with any poboy it is vital to use good french bread and nothing else. I like to toast mine a little. I hope you enjoy!

A lovely girl's table and chairs

 My husband and I went to visit his family for a couple of weeks. My sister-in-law bought these for her daughter at a garage sale and asked if I could paint them to match her new bed set.

 We sanded through layers of paint and awful decoupage and found this on one of the chairs!  

 This is the finished product. I took some of the patterns from her new bed set and some I made up.

Super Awesome Healthy Granola bars

Ingredients:
3 1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c oat bran
1/2 c wheat germ
1T Cinnamon
1 t salt
1 c dried cranberries
1 jar smuckers natural peanut butter (or small jar of pb or your choice)
1c honey
2 c of your favorite mixed nuts
1 c dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. mix dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls. I did this mainly so you can mix the natural peanut butter with its oils then mix the honey into it.

 Line a large sheet pan with foil. This will make it easier to get the bars out and clean!

 Toast the nuts to bring the flavor out!

 mix all ingredients together. Its good to have a very large bowl and mix gently. Press into the sheet pan and put in oven for 10 min.

 Sprinkle chocolate chips generously over the bars. bake for another 15 min. let set until completely cooled. If you let them chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, they are easier to cut. Cut into bars and store in the fridge. They have not lasted long enough in my house to find out if they ever go bad, but I'm sure they stay good for a while.

I found that these fit perfectly in snack size bags individually so you can grab them and go. I also found, when I was developing this recipe, that if you add about half a container of the peanut butter and 1/2- 3/4 c of honey the granola will be crumbly and makes delicious granola for yogurt!