Crate cover!!!

So...I usually take the rusty assistant with me to my mom's over the holidays for lots of reasons, but mostly he's spoiled and I can't stand to leave him alone for that long. :) Unfortunately he's HUGE and gets all excited around my young niece so sometimes I have to put him in his crate. Then he cries....because he's a people puppy. So I thought maybe if he couldn't see out of his crate he wouldn't cry as much...out of sight out of mind kind of thing, you know?

So I googled and found this tutorial.

Supplies:

• fabric
• scissors
• measuring tape
• chalk (optional)
• thread
• sewing machine
• And ignore the other things because it didn't work :(

Please ignore the bottom half of this photo :)

"You're making something for me?!?!?!"

 For the most part I followed the directions from the tutorial. So I'll just paste them here :)

TAKE MEASUREMENTS
The first step is to measure the crate surfaces. Areas to measure are the top, the left and right sides, and the front and back. Each will be covered by a separate panel of fabric that you later sew or glue together.

Add an inch and a half (35mm) to each panel width and length to make allowance for your seams and ensure your cover will not be too small.

Put your measurements down on paper in the form of drawings and clearly mark each panel area. If you have quad paper, you can do the drawings to scale (for example, one block equals two inches). You can then cut the paper pieces out and try them in different combinations to help you in figuring out how much fabric you need.

FIND A SUITABLE FABRIC
If you are adding the cover for warmth, find a quilt at a thrift store that you can cut up or an old sleeping bag or two. Be sure to have your measurements and measuring tape with you. Check twice to make sure that you will have enough fabric.

You can also buy quilted fabric or create your own insulating panels by taking two layers of fabric and putting batting in between them. If you choose to do this, pin and sew the three layers together so that you have a complete panel before you try and attach it to the other panels.

CUT OUT THE FABRIC
Use a piece of chalk to mark out the panels on your fabric before you cut it. If need be, pin the fabric to a few layers of newspaper to keep it in alignment before you mark it and start cutting.

SEWING or GLUING SIDES TOGETHER
Here's where you see how easy it is to make a dog crate cover!

• First pin the pieces together inside out
• Note that you will only attach the top end of the front panel - leave the sides unpinned to form a flap
• Try the cover on the crate. Adjust as necessary
• Sew or glue the side panels to the top piece and the back panel
• Sew or glue the top part of the front panel to the top panel
• Finish off the seams along the edges of the front flap
• Put two strips of velcro (the hooked part) on the top panel
• Roll up the front panel
• Add the other half of the velcro strips to it so they match up with the ones on the top panel
• In other words, you want to place the velcro so that when you roll up the front panel, it will stay attached to the top

I realized pretty quickly that I cannot cut fabric in a straight line and that getting the edges right would be greatly assisted by some awesome creases. I thought the iron would be too big, so I used my hair straightener instead!

Quite brilliant if I do say so myself!

Momma...it's late...let's go to sleeeeep!

 I glued the pieces together initially with the fabric glue.

Giant dog = giant crate = giant crate cover...

 Then I thought the fabric glue might not be quite enough so I busted out the old sewing machine...and I do mean old....

Check out the color!!!

 Funny story about this machine. My old roommate (who shall be referred to as Louise to protect her not-so-innocence) and I used this machine to make shirts a few years back. We had been using it for a couple days when it stopped working. The light still came on, but we couldn't get it to do anything else. After a while I unwillingly called my mom to tell her we had broken the sewing machine that had been her mother's and her sister's before she had it...I explained to her that the light still came one, but we couldn't get it to run. We finally figured out that we had to leave the light ON for the sewing machine to work. OOPS!!! We had plenty of light so we always turned the light off before trying to use the machine. Best my a 50's sewing machine...how sad...

Best sewing machine instruction manual EVER!!!

 I somehow managed to finish it!!! I really should take a sewing class in the near future...the cover's a bit rough around the edges...quite literally too!!

TADA!!!

The prisoner...

I also wanted to try this. But...I wanted to avoid Wal-Mart the day before Thanksgiving so I got the closest to lacquer thinner I could find at Hobby Lobby. Total fail. So the Ranger Hangar will have to get its name applied at a later date. Probably very soon because I'm very excited about it!!!

And the pre-Thanksgiving baking madness comes to an end...

Last year around this time I found a BEAUTIFUL madeleine baking pan on sale at Willams-Sonoma. I couldn't resist it! I spent a lot of time finding a recipe online, but most include some crazy ingredient (such as orange flower water...???). I finally found one here. All of the ingredients were "normal" and the directions didn't seem too crazy! Marcel Proust once wrote a beautiful passage about fresh-out-of-the-oven madeleines...

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (6 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (for greasing pan)
• 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• a pinch fine-grain sea salt
• 2/3 cups sugar
• zest of one large lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• powdered sugar
• a bit of extra flour for dusting baking pan
• Special equipment: A madeleine baking pan, regular or small

Ingredients...look at how beautiful that pan is!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the 1 1/2 sticks of butter in a small pot over medium heat until it's brown and gives off a deliciously nutty aroma, roughly 20 minutes. Strain (using a paper towel over a mesh strainer) - you want to leave the solids behind. Cool the butter to room temperature. By doing the butter first you can complete the rest of the steps while it is cooling.

While the melted butter is cooling, use the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to grease the madeleine molds - get in there and make sure you get in all the ridges. Dust with flour and invert the pan tapping out any excess flour. You can use "cooking spray" with flour to simplify this part.

Put the eggs with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick - you are looking for the eggs to roughly double or triple in volume - approximately 3 minutes.

Whip it...whip it good!

Continuing to mix on high speed, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and ribbony.

streaming sugar!

Thick and ribbony!

Now with a spatula fold in the lemon zest and vanilla (just until mixed).

Sprinkle the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture. Only stirring enough to bring everything together.

Sprinklings of flour.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 2/3 -3/4 full. I use a small cup filled with batter to keep things clean and manageable, it is easier than using a spoon.

I used the sugar streaming cup to fill these...worked pretty well!

Bake the madeleines for 12 - 14 minutes (7-10 minutes for smaller cookies), or until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Cool on racks and dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 2 -3 dozen regular madeleines.

YUM!!!

Erm...second dozen didn't work as well...

NOOOO!!!! Beautiful madeleine pan...what have I done to you?!

Oh Marcel...I'm sorry to have let you down so... :( I think I just didn't grease and flour the pan enough. Also, I used a butter/olive oil combo...real butter might just be the key here. I may try this same recipe again...but first I must make my pan beautiful again!!!

And the baking extravaganza continues...

One of my favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas cookie recipes! My mom got it from a patient a few years ago. I tend to add more cranberries and pistachios than this says...but I like my cookies chunky. Apparently my cookies like me chunky too...

This time I made a batch and a half of these since the hubby loves them so much :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt (may omit in nuts and/or butter is salted)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup softened unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped pistachios
• 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

Ingredients...1/2 an egg is hard to get BTW.. :)

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in mixing bowl.

Beat butter in a large mixing bowl until fluffy (about 2 minutes), add sugar and mix until smooth.

smoooooth

 Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

Blend in flour in 3 stages.

Stir in chips, nuts and cranberries.

Oh I could eat it just like this...

 Form walnut-sized mounds and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes.
(makes 4 dozen)

Or use the ice cream scoop...

TASTY TASTY NOMS!!!

The hardest part of this recipe by far is chopping the pistachios and cranberries. Enjoy!!!

Orange Currant Polenta Cookies

It's that time of the year!!! Time to struggle to eat healthy! So the next three posts will be dessert recipes. Muah ha ha ha ha!!! I found the recipe for these Orange Currant Polenta Cookies through Food Network's 12 Days of Cookies emails last year I believe. I made these for Christmas last year and my brother requested them for Turkey Day this year...I'll probably make them for Christmas again this year too! I'm also sending a bunch of these to the hubster overseas. I've only been able to find currants at Akin's...I haven't looked at other health food stores though since I knew I can find them there. I suppose you could use raisins instead, but I don't think they'd be as good.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried currants
• 1/4-cup orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier) or water
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 medium oranges, zest finely grated
• 1 tablespoon coarse polenta or cornmeal

Ingredients!

The oranges make a nice snack that will keep you from eating as much dough and cookies :)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, add the currants and orange-flavored liqueur, or water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the liquid. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to combine.

Butter and sugar...mmmm

Gradually add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until incorporated, (the mixture will look curdled). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix again on low speed until a dough forms - scrape again including the beaters. 

This part always scares me...I picture flour flying EVERYWHERE!

Dough!!!

When a dough forms add the currants, zest, and polenta and mix on low until thoroughly combined. 

So many tasty currants!

Roll into small 1-inch balls, and arrange on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

I use a small ice cream scoop to form the cookies

Just out of the scoop as is...

Then I tried flattening them just to make sure they were baked all the way through in the center.

This recipe is pretty easy, though I will say grating the zest of two oranges takes quite a bit of arm power...or maybe I just need to work out more. No, scratch that...I KNOW I need to work out more. *sigh* Best by a grater :(

Another 4 cheese and pasta dish...oops! :)

Two 4-cheese pasta dishes in a row...that's extremely cheesy even for me!!! This time it's a four-cheese baked penne.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups small-curd low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 pound whole-wheat penne
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes (no salt added is better)
• 1 8-oz can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• cooking spray
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (3/4 oz)

The lineup...

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella (or the whole 1 1/4 cup if you're like me and can't read), and the parsley (which I forgot I had, so I didn't add is...oops!!!) in a bowl and stir to incorporate.

Cheese, cheese, and more cheese :)

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until tender but still firm. Drain.

Heat the oil in the same pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds more. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.

Even in my tallest pot, the tomatoes splashed EVERYWHERE as they cooked.

Add the pasta to the pot and turn off the heat. Stir in the cheese mixture.

Spray a 9x13-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray, then transfer the pasta mixture to the dish. Top with remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella (or just more mozzarella) and the Parmesan. Bake until heated through and the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.

mmmm

I got too excited and forgot to take a picture of the finished product before I dug in...

Verdict....really good! However, the onions and garlic weren't cooked enough for my taste...an easy fix for next time though! 2 cup serving is about 500 calories.

It ain't no blue box...

Another Ellie Krieger recipe! I couldn't find this one online though, so no link. :( I had been craving mac & cheese for a while but I didn't want to give in and get the blue box (as delicious as it is and as much as I love it...it's just not on the healthy eating plan). So here it is! Macaroni and Four (4!!!) Cheeses:

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• one 16-oz box elbow macaroni
• 2 10-oz packages frozen pureed winter squash (or canned pumpkin if your store doesn't carry it...*sigh*)
• 2 cups lowfat milk
• 1 1/3 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (4 oz)
• 2/3 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 oz)
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp plain dry bread crumbs
• 2 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp olive oil

ingredients

 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain and transfer to the prepared baking dish.

stuck a feather in his hat...

Meanwhile, place the frozen (or in my case, canned) squash (pumpkin) and milk in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon until it is defrosted. Side note - winter squash is a general term for many varieties including acorn and butternut squash. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally.

pumpkin and milk

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheddar, Jack cheese, ricotta, salt, mustard, and cayenne. Pour this mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine.

I have to stir all that in the pan?? Well this could get messy...

Success!!!  No mess!!!

Wondering where his cheese is...

Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese.

bread crumb topping

Bake until the cheeses are bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes so the top is crisp and nicely browned.

bubbling away!!!

Toasty brown!

And the verdict is.....well like the title of this post, this ain't no blue box, but for 390 calories/2 cups it's not bad at all! I'm not sure how often I'll make this, but I don't regret making it! :)

:)

Fettuccine Bolognese

Spaghetti night!!! Another tasty Ellie Krieger recipe...I'm slightly obsessed with her recipes. They're just so tasty AND healthy!!!

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup) (I used baby carrots and it probably more than 1/2 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 pound lean or extra-lean (90% lean or higher) ground beef
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried (I used what sounded good)
• Two 14.5-ounce cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with their juices
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk or regular whole milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients

The helper eating a carrot snack

Cook the fettuccine according to the package directions.

In the meantime, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring a few times, until softened,a bout 5 minutes.

Onion, carrot and celery

Add the mushrooms and cook until the water they release has evaporated, another 5 to 7 minutes, stirring a few times.

With the mushrooms

I used a small Cuisinart food processor to chop everything nice and small...yeah it's a cheat, no I'm not ashamed.

Add the garlic, ground beef, and thyme (or whatever) and cook until the meat is browned, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks, about 5 minutes.

With the beef

Stir in the tomatoes and broth and cook until the sauce is thickened, about another 5 minutes.

With the tomatoes and broth

Any good cook drinks while the meal is coming together...and what goes better with pasta than a little wine? If you said a lot of wine, you are correct!

Mmmm...muscat cannelli...

Stir in the milk and cook for 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper.

I added more evaporated milk than it called for...that's right, I live dangerously!!!

When the pasta is done, drain it, put in back in the pasta pot, add the sauce and stir the sauce and pasta together. Divide between 4 serving bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan, and serve. (Or plate one serving and put the rest in tupperwear like yours truly).

YUM!!!

Check out all the leftovers!!!

Somehow I ended up with 5 servings instead of 4...not complaining!

What a great Sunday night! Great food, great wine, and great company :)

A serving is 2 1/2 cups and 580 calories...not bad for a pasta dish!! And it's very filling! I still have mac & cheese, chicken soup, and a 4 cheese pasta dish left for the next 2 weeks or so. 

Enjoy!!!