Monthly Archives: April 2013

Apr 27 2013
bleach a shirt

How to Bleach a Shirt

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

I have this sweater style t-shirt that I accidentally got some bleach on. It’s disappointing but not surprising that I managed this. I didn’t want to go around with a dark brown shirt with a few random orange spots and I also didn’t want to throw the shirt away. So, I decided to bleach my shirt in trying to make the entire shirt orange.

bleach a shirt

This to ———->bleach a shirt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what I did.

Materials:

  • bleach
  • water
  • shirt/item you want bleached
  • rubber gloves
  • clothing you’d be ok if bleach accidentally got on
  • hair tie, bobby pins to keep hair out of your face

Instructions:

  1. Make sure the item you want bleach is clean
  2. In a stainless steel sink or something white, I used a small white trash can, do a mixture of ¼ cup bleach to 2 quarts warm water, the warmer the water the more bleach the item will absorb. I also did this in my tub if some of the bleach water splashed around.
  3. Add your item and let it soak for about 20 minutes. I let it soak for 30 minutes because I went and watched TV while I waited and checked/stirred it on commercial breaks.
  4. In the tub or sink completely rinse out item and wash in your machine separately,  following tag instructions. 

Now I have a new shirt and I didn’t have to pay for it! I feel like the picture doesn’t do the pretty pumpkin shade of orange justice.

Apr 23 2013

Twice Baked Potato Recipe

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

twice baked potato

 

Twice baked potatoes are amazing. Enough said, here’s how I make mine.

Ingredients:

  • 4 potatoes, the ones that are good for baking not the red ones
  • olive oil to taste
  • salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup mixed herbs
  • 1 cup cheese of your choice, I do mozzarella
  • sour cream to taste
  • butter to taste

OR

  • 4 potatoes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 cup cheese of your choice, I use cheddar
  • A lot of ranch dressing, to taste

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Scrub potatoes well, you need clean skins
  3. Pat dry with a paper towel
  4. Pierce with sharp object several times,  I use a fork
  5. Place in roasting tin or cookie sheet with a lip and drizzle with olive oil until potatoes are well coated, salt to taste
  6. Place tin on an upper shelf and roast for about 1 hour or until cooked, if you’re using a convection oven the time is about 40 minutes because it has a smaller small to heat up.
  7. While potatoes are in the oven, combine the rest of the ingredients to taste, set aside until the potatoes are done
  8. Carefully remove and cut each potato in half, lengthwise
  9. With a spoon, remove the potato flesh but be careful not to rip the skin and put into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mash until well combined
  10. Pile flesh back into the skins and return the potato halves to the roasting tin, sprinkle with cheese
  11. Return the tin to the oven for 10-15 or until the tops of the potatoes are light golden brown and cheese has melted
  12. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
  13. Enjoy!

twice baked potato

 

 

 

Apr 19 2013

Favorite May Day Crafts

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

Growing up we celebrated May Day, which is May 1st, and we put a lot of effort into our baskets we would create. If you don’t know what May Day is click here. Basically, it is where a person creates a little basket with flowers or candy inside and they put it on the door steps of their sweetie, ring the bell and run! If the person answering the door catches the basket giver, the give them a kiss and send them on their way. I think it is a cute tradition, even if you feel a little silly doing it.

Crafts:

 DLTK’s Crafts for Kids has a lot of cute May Day craft ideas to do with children

TLC also has a list of kid friendly craft ideas.

Martha Stewartmay day, of course, has a cute and easy take on a May Day Basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple non-traditional crafts for May Day:

tiny_baskets_1_mediumThese are adorable knit baskets that would be perfect.The pattern is by Vicki Mikulak and can be found on Ravelry.

 

 

 

May Day

 

 

This is a cute and easy cross stitch basket pattern for May Day.

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of options if you’d like to buy instead of create:

may day

 

The Etsy store Heartmade Treasures is selling this beautiful and traditional May Day Basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

il_570xN.372182922_sebw

 

 

 

The Etsy Store ElsieAStyle has this elegant basket for sale.

 

 

 

may day

 

 

This basket sold at Amazon would be a cute May Day Basket, just add flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 16 2013
cucumber margarita

Cucumber Margarita Recipe

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

cucumber margarita Cucumber margaritas are delicious and refreshing. I had my first one last summer on vacation and decided I needed to figure out how to make them at home.

Makes 2 large cucumber margaritas.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into small pieces, plus more for garnish
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice, I use this juicer
  • ½ cup 100% Agave tequila blanco
  • ½ cup agave or simple syrup (recipe at bottom of the page)

Directions:

cucumber margarita

1. Place all ingredients into a blender. If you’d like it frozen like I do, add about 10-12 ice cubes.

2. Blend until smooth, if frozen pour into cups and serve, if serving on the rocks, pour over ice through a strainer.

3. Garnish with a cucumber slice.

4. Enjoy!

cucumber margarita

Simple Syrup:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1½ tsp fresh lime juice

1. Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan on medium to high heat

2. Stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.

3. Remove from heat and allow to cool

4. Store in the fridge

Apr 12 2013

Free iPhone Knitting Apps

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

I have compiled a small list of free and hopefully useful knitting apps for iPhones. This list definitely doesn’t have all the free knitting apps available. I’m just mentioning a few I liked and that fit my needs.

 

knit appsI like stitch counter app by KAZE because it allows you store multiple projects. It also has a feature on the counter screen where you can turn the sleep function off. It also has a memo section where you can type notes about your progress, as well as, take pictures of your work.

Jknit LiteThere is also JKnit Lite HD for your iPad. JKnit Lite by Jakro Soft lets you store all of your pdf files in it for easy access and viewing where ever you are, no need to waste all of that paper anymore. There is also and stitch counter, place to write notes about your project and a camera option to take a pic of your project. There’s even a timer to record how much time you spent working on your project!

 

knit appsQuilt2Go has a couple of free apps that can be useful for knitters. The first one is a counter called StitchMinder and the other is called KnitMinder Lite.  KnitMinder Lite is a cool app because it allows you to put in and track current projects. It also has categories to list your pattern, yarn, and needle stashes so you will always know what you have instead of rummaging through everything to make sure you have it. The only thing that could be an issue is that the Lite version limits the amount of information you can put in to the app, you have to buy the full version to get more space.

knitting app
Gaugfy Free:Knitting Gauge Calculator is a handy app that helps you figure out what the gauge for a project should be. It also does the math for you when you need to figure out how long a project will be if you knit so many stitches per and how many rows. Or the opposite, you can input how long you need your project to be and it will tell you how many rows to knit. 

Apr 8 2013
ceviche

Ceviche Recipe

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

ceviche

I love ceviche! It’s one of those fish dishes that got me on the road to liking fish and seafood. This is one of those recipes however where you don’t have leftovers because the acidity in the juices will continue to cook the fish turning it into mush. Whatever isn’t eaten should be thrown away which is why you serve it with other things like guacamole.

Prep time: How fast can you chop?

Cook time: ~ 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tilapia fillet, chopped into small cubes
  • 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 red onion, finely diced
  • 1-2 chopped fresh seeded vine tomatoes
  • 1 chopped bell pepper, no color preference
  • 1/2 jalapeño pepper, chopped and 1/4 of the seeds (to taste, want heat? add more seeds! don’t like things hot? add only a couple of seeds)
  • Salt to taste
  • Cilantro to taste, stem removed and chopped

Will be served with:

Directions:

1. In a glass bowl with lid, like a Pyrex, combine equal parts tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper. Next add the jalapeño. Mix well with a spoon.

ceviche

2.  Add cilantro and mix. Then add the salt to taste. The salt is to take some of the sweetness away from the lemon and lime juice.

3. Add the tilapia and mix well.

4. Add the lime and lemon juices making sure to throughly coat the fish. The acidity in the juice is what cooks the fish. Stir and cover with lid.

ceviche

5. Place the bowl in the fridge for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway between. The fish should go from clearish to white.

6. Enjoy! I like to eat my ceviche by scooping onto tortilla chips with guacamole on the side.

ceviche

Apr 3 2013

Oven Baked Salmon Recipe

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

As a kid I use to hate all types of fish. I’m still not a huge fan of it but I do like oven baked salmon. Here’s how I do it:

Ingredients:

  • salmon fillet
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
  • dill

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450°

2. Lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish in olive oil, I like to use my Misto

3. Place the salmon in the dish, scale side down

4. Squirt a couple of lemon wedges or pour a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice over the salmon

5. Salt and pepper the salmon to taste

6. Put a heavy coating of dill on the salmon

oven baked salmon

7. Place in oven and bake for 9-15 minutes. You always want to make sure it’s cooked all the way, should flake easily, but at around 9 minutes it’s done and tastes more like fish but at around 13-15 minutes it’s more of a steak consistency for me which I prefer.

8. Enjoy!

– If using a convection oven, it will cook a little faster.

– If using a regular oven, the salmon should be baked on the top rack! Otherwise, it will take a lot longer to bake.