here's what's for dinner

I know we have been absent for awhile, but life tends to get in the way, especially when you have school  (for me) and a small kiddo (christina).  However, after dinner today my own father recommended i put this on here, so thanks dad!
I don't have many to do pictures, but I'm sure you can find some tutorials on the inter webs.

I am trying a new diet and have been craving egg rolls, (one of my favorite ever foods... also sushi, but that's for another day) i have also been eating leftovers for awhile now, so i combined them.  here's what you get....

Vegan Spring Rolls

• rice wrappers
• romaine tops (washed and spun dry)
• carrots
• cucumber (no seeds please)
• yellow or your favorite bell pepper
• rice noodles- you only need a small amount so i made one of the 3 in the bag.
• raspberry balsamic vinegar
• leftovers (i used raspberry balsamic tofu i  had made earlier in the week)

warm water to soften the rice wrappers

basically you slice your veggies and reheat your leftovers.  i made some rice as well but it failed so no pictures of that.

this made about 8 total and i was very full after just two small ones.

i drizzled some balsamic vinegar over the top as a dipping sauce if you will.

i'm cheap because i'm poor.

 i don't know if you've noticed, but we love pinterest.  while perusing the pins i kept coming upon this pin for homemade laundry detergent (both liquid and powder), so i thought, "hey self.... you should make this and try it so you can save a ton of money."   so i did just that. i gathered my supplies, went to work and voila! my family hasn't looked back since.

Source: yellowbrickhome.com via Alexis on Pinterest

Stitching with kids

I mentioned that I was working on little sewing projects with my nieces.  They love sewing!  I have 2 nieces that are really getting into it.  I have been creating simple little project for these two to make for awhile now.  Last year (or was it the year before?) we made little peeps and just some other little free form projects with felt and yarn.  I believe one made a heart and the other made a little pouch that her mom uses at the store.  I wish I would have taken pictures of these to share with you.  Basically when sewing with children, start with projects that are made up of simple shapes and that are 2D.  You want something that all they have to do is stitch a front onto a back.  After they master that, then you can get a little fancier.

Pinterset Love #2- Baby Halloween Edition

I have been going nuts trying to decide what my little one should be for her first Halloween.  I knew that I wanted to make her a costume that would be cute and comfy and hopefully easy because she probably won't wear it for very long.  I had been looking online trying to decide and I was just running out of time.  I finally asked my husband what she should be and we went out and got some fabric and I quickly made her costume during a nap or two.  I am not going to share that with youy quite yet (I am so mean!)  But I will share some cute baby costumes that I have pinned on pinterst.  Some of these are ones that Alexis found and some are ones I found while searching around on google for ideas.  

sweet potato biscuits

My sister in law has got me slightly hooked on Gooseberry Patch books.  I have nowhere near as many as she does, but I think I am creeping close to a dozen.  Every once in a while I actually make something from one of them.  They are fun to read, but like any other cook book, I think I read them more than I cook from them.  I was looking through them recently looking for  some recipes with fall flavors and I came across sweet potato biscuits.  I love sweet potatoes and I love biscuits, and they are quick and easy.  This is a picture heavy post, not that this recipe needs to be, but I just like pictures of food and it was fun putting together a pictorial step by step.  Ok, are you ready for some biscuits?

dobos torte

i love the look of many layered things. so when i happened across the dobos torte, i was ecstatic.  i made it as a desert to take to christina's house when a-gator was about 20 weeks old.  i only remember this, because i wanted to make as many layers as a-gator was old, but ran out of batter at 16.
i followed this recipe from allrecipes.com
dobos torte
i didn't change anything as it was the first time making it, but i also didn't make the sugar topping or use the lemon zest.  i just made a simple powdered sugar icing with cocoa powder to make it chocolate.  I found this to be a little sweet, so the next time i might just make a dark chocolate ganache to drizzle over the cake (and in between the layers of course!)
It was still delicious, and the thinner you sliced the cake, the better it tasted.

homemade potato soup

Homemade potato soup

When I was young, my grandma used to make fresh vegetable soup with goodies from her garden.  I always felt it was a special treat that she made just for my visit.  My mom, who can’t stand canned soup unless it’s tomato, makes potato soup for our family all the time.  I’ve tweaked it just a bit and she approves.  So here, for your stomachs’ pleasure, I give to you, potato soup (that only takes about 45 minutes start to finish!)