Easy upcycling Project 1: Quilt Cover from Flat sheets

My mum is here for a little over a month to help herd the Little Man and his brand new baby sister. She's also excellent at sewing (even though she refuses to acknowledge that my electric sewing machine is better than her manual pedal machine). As I'm usually quite timid about my sewing skills I take the opportunity of when she's here to supervise to do any sewing projects. Another benefit is that if I mess something up she can fix it :-)

However, even I haven't been able to mess up the sewing projects we've started during her trip. Which involves mainly sewing in straight lines.

Project 1: Creating a quilt cover from flat sheets that come in sheet sets

I have no idea why sheet sets these days always come with a fitted sheet, pillow cases... and a flat sheet! I mean who uses flat sheets anymore? Hubby is a traditionalist and says that flat sheets should be between the body and the quilt cover but how does one manage to keep all the layers lined up. I can't imagine keeping everything sorted in our bed let alone in Little Man's bed. In the morning even his quilt is all rummaged. So flat sheets are definitely out. So what to do with all those flat sheets that come in all these sets.

The good news is that if you buy a sheet sets for a king single bed that you'll have enough material in the flat sheet to make a matching quilt cover for a double bed. The only thing is that you'll need sheets from 2 sets to make it. Just cut them to the size of your quilt (+1.5 inches for the seam.. or thereabouts. I was measuring religiously and mum said "it's such a big piece of material you're not going to see it if you are off by a bit. Just wing it") then sew 3 sides together on the wrong side. Just leave a 3/4 inch gap between the sewn line and the edge.

Then just add buttons on the open edge. We salvaged a couple of buttons from an old jacket that was going to be thrown out.

The result is a "free" quilt cover that already matches your existing pillow cases. This is now our backup cover as we're moving into the nighttime potty training phase of toddlerhood and having spare sheets on hand is always useful.

We even had a little bit of extra material to make a play apron for the little man. 

I'll post about the upcycled apron in Easy upcycling Project 2

Soup weather

Is it soup weather where you are? Here in Brisbane, it's been grey and miserable which is just perfect for whipping up a batch of easy-peasy potato and leek soup.

We love soup in our house - it's quick, easy, nourishing and really just screams out comfort food. Just quietly, it's also a bit of a hit with toddlers (Ellie likes to add her own garnishes to her bowl for extra flourish).

Potato and leek soup

Well, what are you waiting for? Head on over to WithAFork to see how to create a potato and leek bowl of yum.

What's your winter comfort food?

The 'Town Bike' Slice

Let's be honest here, with a name like the town bike slice, how could I not want to make this as soon as I saw it pop up on a newsletter from Stay at Home Mum? I was especially tickled with the explanation for the name of the slice: "Because it’s cheap, easy and everyone can enjoy it!"

It really was easy too. This was whipped up while small miss was busy playing with her balloon balls. No need to mix or stir this recipe, it's as easy as measuring out a cup of each of the ingredients, layering then baking. My kind of recipe! It's not really very infant/toddler friendly, but mums need a few mum-friendly indulgences every now and then right?

Chocolate chips (I used a mix of dark and milk). Coconut. Nuts (I used peanuts and almonds). Rice bubbles. All topped with a can of condensed milk then baked until golden brown and gooey (about 20 minutes at 180 degrees).

Here's a tip: allow it to cool completely before slicing, otherwise it will be a terrible mess!

I'll be honest. Upon first taste, I wasn't sure this slice was for me. It was too gooey to take anywhere so my plans of taking it to work to share were shelved as it really needs to be stored in the fridge and eaten straight away while cold. I also thought it was too sweet. BUT! It grew on me. I froze a few pieces and they were delicious, perfect for an after dinner snack or when I wanted something sweet to chew on. I think the sweetness mellowed a bit too.

So, I might give it another go. Maybe play with the ingredients a little, try corn flakes instead of rice bubbles, add some fruit it to give the illusion of a healthy treat.  Might also be a bit of a winner to take to some of the upcoming Christmas parties....

Do you have a recipe that hits the sweet spot?

Broccoli and cheese soup (with hidden vegetables)

Inspired by the1337mum's easy recipes, I decided to take a leaf out of her (recipe) book when I needed to create dinner last night for the small miss from a few wilted vegetables and pantry staples. I came up with a healthier version of a broccoli and cheese soup.
 
Broccoli and cheese soup with extra hidden vegetables

 

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 carrot, diced

2 heads broccoli, chopped (don’t waste it, I also chopped up the peeled stems)

2 tablespoons vegetable stock powder

3 cups water (more or less depending on how thick you like your soup)

handful tasty cheese

• Add the onion and garlic to a saucepan with a little olive oil. Fry until fragrant.
• Add the chopped carrot and broccoli, stock powder and water. Let it boil, and then cook until vegetables are soft (about 10 minutes).
• Take off the heat and blend. I used a stick blender until I was happy with the texture. I then added a handful of tasty cheese and stirred it in. No need to have it on the stove, the residual heat will melt the cheese. Season to taste.

I served the small miss’s with some rice I had already cooked in the fridge. It must have been a hit… she grabbed the spoon from my hand (evidently I wasn’t shovelling food fast enough for her taste) and proceeded to feed herself. She’s never done that before, so I was most impressed. The ever hopeful hounds circled below her feet in anticipation of the inevitable fallout.

 

 

I was quite impressed: I used up some vegetables that needed using, and created a tasty and fairly healthy meal with not much at all. Win!

 

When your cupboard takes inspiration from old Mother Hubbard, what are your go to recipes?

Quick and easy lunches. Cauliflower soup and Chinese Chicken Porridge

I've gotten pretty good at planning dinners thanks to an idea I've stole from Ms Fork when saw it on her fridge. But somehow lunches still sometimes get away from me. I mean they show up all unexpectedly in the middle of the day when people are busy doing stuff. Also we had a massive weekend last week and didn't get a chance to do a proper grocery shop so or fridge and pantry is not nearly as conducive to options as I'd like.

As a result I've had to develop a repertoire of easy meals that don't require that I have much in the fridge to prepare. 

Here are 2 I've whipped up over the last couple of days.

Going Live and Dreamer Blanket Giveaway

And we're LIVE. And to kick things off we're giving away a lovely Dreamer Precious 100% cotton cot blanket.

About

This cute little blanket is designed for a cot and measures in at 100 x 150cm. It's an ivory base with a mixture of blue, orange and brown dots. The material is a really fluffy knitted cotton velour and claims to be anti-pilling, anti-allergic, light weight and very breathable.

My experience

When Alexandra asked if I'd like to try on of these blankets, I jumped at the opportunity. Ellie is at a stage now where she is very textural, and one of her favourite things is minky softness. We have them all over the place - in the car, as a blanket, as a pillow pet in the lounge and even a few cold weather minky sleep suits. The Dreamer blanket is no exception. It was a hit as soon as I removed it from the packaging, with Ellie grabbing it and lying down on top of it immediately!

The size is great too, as I can use it as a cot blanket, but its not so large that we can't put it in the lounge or use it in the car as well. The minky has stayed nice and soft after washing so I know that this is a blanket we'll use over and over until it is loved to pieces.

The good news

We love this blanket so much we wanted to share the love! All you have to do is to be a fan of our facebook page and share the giveaway for your chance to win.

We've got more stuff waiting to be given away so besides this giveaway we'll be giving away another great prize when we hit 50 and 100 facebook fans so the more shares we get the more prizes we get to give away!

Upcycling Projects: Home Made Sleeping Bags

This blog has been neglected for a couple of weeks. The cause of this absence is that the 1337 Grandma came all the way from Singapore to stay for a month to spend time with her grandson (and as a side note bonus... with hubby and myself).

I'm very grateful for the times when mum comes to stay. She's obviously got her own stuff going on as well as another grandson who she's the weekday carer of but her coming over means that hubby and I have another pair of hands around the house to help catch the things that slip through the cracks (like making dinner, and finding time to have a shower and making sure that the sink doesn't get full before doing the dishes.. etc)