The Yummiest, No-Fail Corn Bread for a crowd

My Youngest asked me if I will make her corn bread instead of cake for her birthday, next year.  That's how good, and how much she likes this corn bread recipe.  It's super low-fuss and I have modified it from the recipe on the Quaker cornmeal package, just a touch.

I like to make a heaping amount of corn bread and use a 13 X 9 inch pan.  For the obvious reason of my ravenous corn bread eating young and husband.  I have been known, on days when we are having left-over soup and have run out of corn bread, to whip up a second batch because it is loved that much in my household. 

So light and moist (dry corn bread=ew) and it works out EVERY TIME.  No fuss, no fancy stuff, just good, simple corn bread.

Corn Bread
3 1/2 C. Flour
1 1/2 C. Corn Meal
1/2 C. Sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
2 C. 2% Milk
1/2 C. Canola Oil
2 eggs, whisked

Heat oven to 375 F.
Using butter, grease a 13 x 9 inch glass casserole dish.
Combine flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
Combine milk, oil and beaten eggs together and add to dry ingredients.  Mix until the wet and dry ingredients just come together.
Pour batter into greased dish.
Bake for approximately 25 to 30 minutes until the top is lightly gbd (that's golden brown and delicious) and a wooden skewer, when inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve while warm with a generous slathering of creamy butter and sweet honey.

 

Serving suggestions that go perfectly with corn bread:

OMG Beef and Vegetable Soup 

Left Over Ham and Bean Soup

 

Easy Chilli

2014 Halloween Showcase

We don't do masks, we do face painting here.  My Oldest was Hermione/an animal witch, so she got a cute little owl on her forehead.  She actually gave me free-reign to paint whatever I wanted, as long as it was an animal. 

My baby was a snow witch.  I think this is partly because she wanted to be Elsa and a witch and so we met in the middle.

My little witchlings trying to keep their hats on in the wind. 

Thanks for reading!!

Heather

Witchcraft-ing :) Did you see what I did there?

Last year I had the girls design their own Halloween costumes and we ended up with the cutest Princess Leia and Ariel, two princesses with VERY different aesthetics.  Luckily, My Baby let me get her a princess nightgown and call it a costume, and My Oldest was cool getting creative with an outfit that Leia could possibly wear, even though she doesn't in any of the shows.

And then I got busy with my bad self and gave them some wicked awesome face painting.

This year I'm going to have a couple witches on my hands and I had them design their own hats and let them pick out some tulle for witchy skirts.

My Baby wanted to go with a, mainly skull and spider theme with a few gorgeous gems thrown in and a purple, sparkly veil with one big flower in front.  I wielded the hot glue gun with authority and she pointed and directed.  She was very excited to place one of the tiny skulls in the flower.

My Oldest decided on a few additional spooky touches, bats, skulls, rats as well as gorgeous flowers and a turquoise, spotty veil.  She was particularly happy with the rats climbing over the skull and having placed some of her bats upside down, they are resting.

This was a fun project because it allowed them to pick a few crafty embellishments and get creative.

Their puffy witches skirts.  I let them each pick 3 colors of tulle and some satin blanket binding and got these skirts made up in a couple of hours.  So, if you need a quick tulle skirt idea, this is it.  It's so simple because it ties in the back like an apron!!  I tried to figure out where this genius idea originated, but no idea.  If it's yours, I love it.

I had nine yards of tulle per skirt and that was too much. I cut the tulle into 6 inch strips and layered, oh, about 4 pieces of doubled up tulle together and then just alternated the colors.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for reading.

Heather

Leia...The Reveal

Here she is, the beautiful Princess Leia, going about, doing her business and being a space bad ass in her every day outfit.  She's not going to a council meeting, or the beach in a gold bikin ( her Daddy forbid a gold bikini as a Halloween costume), this is what the average space princess wears when she's just doing her normal thing....that is to say, stomping out space treachery and denying galactic bad guys their fun.

That's right villain!!!  You have been thwarted!

Awww, Mom, I just saved...frantically thinking of a planet...where's the husband when I need him...ummmmm...ohhhh yeah, I got it, I am so on top of things...Tatooine, and you're still going to make me practice my spelling words? 

What do you think?  Aside from the space pearls and scabbard, I think I nailed her vision.

Wanna see how I did it?

Affix sequins in daughter's spacey design to sides of leggings.  Find a pair of silvery dress-up pants kids no longer wear and decide since Leia needs space boots, to make faux boots.  Chop off the legs, hem the raw edge and line up to leggings approximately where you think boots would start.

Pin what was once the ankle of the silver dress-ups to the calf of the white leggings.  Hand sew, using extremely large stitches, so you can remove said boots when daughter wants to wear leggings, not as space pants, easily.  They are long so they'll sit over her shoes...sort of.

Buy a white shirt, ours is be-sparkled, we happened to have the space yak vest that we added to the ensemble, make her a blaster holster, do her hair in intricate side of the head buns and call her Leia.  Done.

Not too tricky.

This is the easy version of Leia's iconic buns.  Make piggy tails on either side of girl's head.  Braid.  Loosely loop around in a circle and pin.  My Oldest was quite upset that she didn't have enough hair to cover her ears completely in space buns, but felt this was a tolerable substitution when Mama told her she wasn't buying her a wig.

Happy Halloween!!

Check out these other Leia costume posts:
Rebel Insignia Blaster Holster
Let your kids design their costumes

Heather

Rebel Insignia....dun, dun, da-dun, dun, da-dun, dun, da-dun.

John Williams and I'm sure a few million geeks, only, would understand the humming in the title.  :)

Daughter's Princess Leia inspired costume coming along....as long as you can call her sweet Rebel Insignia Blaster Holster belt as the only thing I have done....coming along.   Aannddddd, I bought her some white leggings and a white bedazzled shirt.  So yeah.  I'm thinking it's just fine that I haven't begun the be-sparkling of her pants yet, T-Minus...3 days.  Gulp.

Luckily sequins don't take too long to affix...unless your daughter has come up with an intricate pattern that will require many thousands of sequins.  Wondering what I'm doing tonight?  Me and my thimble will be having a party.

If you are needing to make a sweet blaster belt, well, here's how I made mine.  Completely pretending I know what I'm doing, and loving it!  I like it when I can just wing a project and it works.

 1.  Using the very high quality compass I bought in the children's arts and crafts section, that does not lock in place and makes it extremely difficult to actually draw a circle...make a circle.  I am using a very light, icy blue cotton that has already been ironed onto some fusible web.

 2.  From the above circle, make a shape inspired by the Rebel Insignia in Star Wars.  Not too bad.

 3.  Cut a belt-shaped piece of felt, make sure it's big enough to tie in the back...because I am too lazy to sew on buttons, alright.  Try it on your kid and pin a swatch of fabric where the insignia is going to go.  This is a reference for when you sew on the blaster holster.

 4.  Make a blaster holster.  I just cut a long rectangle using felt.  Folded it almost in half, sewed a scant 1/4" seam across both sides, making sure to back stitch....and yeah, a blaster holster is born.

 5.  Sew it onto your belt.  As you can see, I just pulled down the front, top of the holster down as I sewed so it wouldn't get sewn shut and did a straight seam above it onto the top of the belt.  Back-stitching again.  I don't want it to fall apart mid trick-or-treat.

 You can sew on a snap or a button to close the holster.  I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do with it.

 6.  Remove your belly button marker, seen above, and iron on your insignia.  Love fusible web.  My sewing BFF.

7.  If you are making a belt for a certain princess, then bedazzle it baby!

Mine is extremely bedazzled, but I figured, it's a space princess's belt, so heck ya she needs some gems.  Like a lot of them.  But not too many, as to make it tacky.  Just the right amount.

More costume fun to come.

Update:  Check out how cute my Leia is!!

 Hey, even princesses have homework.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Candy Corn Spider Web Pillow

Halloween is nigh upon us.  If you haven't gotten your decorating done, time to get on it.  I had to whip up a pillow for Quilt Guild the other night.  I seem to struggle getting there due to The Mister's school schedule.  Insert sigh here.  We are so close to being done.  I will sacrifice Guild for his schooling.  But it was fun to go.  Of course that meant I had to make a pillow case fast fast!

A little string quilting later and I had half a web.  I had run out of time to complete the other half, so I used a little fusible web, attached it to the black fabric, cut out a nice web-y shape and appliqued it on with florescent green thread.  It was too plain, insert white widow also attached using fusible web and neon thread.

I quite like how the color scheme came together.  I knew I wanted gray and cream as part of the web, but then I was inspired to add the candy corn colors in.  Cute, fun and different from other things I've seen.

If you need a little quick inspiration for some holiday decor, check out my Homemade Halloween for Everyone series I did last year:

Halloween Candy Jars

 Candy Filled Disembodied Floating Hands

 Creepy Crawly Flower Vases

Thanks for reading and happy decorating!!

Heather

 

Homemade Costumes...Princess Leia and Ariel

You may already have Halloween costumes for your kids...but if you don't, why not let them design their own?  I know this sounds like pie in the sky, especially if they want to be Iron Man or Ra-Tangled...I mean Rapunzel, but it's still fun to let them figure out what they want.

My little munchkins hard at work.

My Youngest is going to be Ariel this year.  Think it has something to do with the barrage of commercials for the re-release of the movie?  Nah.  I have a deal with her that if she chooses to be a princess, I let her choose the princess nightgown of her choice from the Disney Store, then she not only gets a costume, but a sweet nighty for the rest of the year.  We have done this two years in a row now, and I highly recommend it.  First, you don't end up with some crazy costume that only gets worn once in a while.  Second, it costs the same or less than a costume and is completely useful.

My Oldest is going to be Princess Leia.  We are kinda doing our own thing.  She was a little worried about not having a costume exactly like in the show, but I assured her that Princess Leia has lots more clothes than were seen on the show and won't it be fun to come up with our own version of what she might wear?  Nod head very emphatically.  It worked.

I bought her a white shirt and white leggings and from there we are going to add some sweet touches, a wooly vest, sparkly embelishments down the side of the legs, I am making her a belt with a scabbard and the rebel emblem on it.  What?  You didn't know there was a rebel emblem?  Or was that just me.  I confess to not having a clue.  Luckily I married a geek and he basically free-handed the emblem from memory.  She gets to have a light saber and maybe a blaster....still trying to decide on the blaster.  Maybe I'll have her make a blaster from what she can find around the house.  Love encouraging a little creativity.  And of course, the buns.  And a pearl necklace.  Yes Princess Leia loves wearing a bit of bling while she galavants about the universe.

Super love seeing their imaginations at work.  Of course My Youngest feels bad that her creations aren't as good as her sister's....It's hard being little.  I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Thanks for reading!!!

Heather

Taco Soup Baby...

If you're somewhere cold...like November's supposed to be...not 70 degrees.

Really, this couldn't be easier.  It's a one pot dish and my kids both really enjoy it.  So, if you maybe have picky kids....I'm not saying My Youngest is a picky eater...no, that's exactly what I'm saying.  She struggles to eat chili, but will gobble this right up.  So give this a try next time you want to make soup.

Let me just say, in advance that I'm not giving all ingredients in exact measurements.  For me, cooking oftentimes is using what I've got on hand.  I may not always have something.  So, if you don't want to go to the store...improvise.  It's really easy to do with soup.  And, just pay attention to it.  If you don't think it looks like it has enough liquid.  Add some water or more tomatoes.  Also, taste it.  Decide if it tastes good. 

Ingredients
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 package corn
1 64 oz. bottle V8...or bottled tomatoes of a different variety
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 or 4 cans canned beans, drained
2 packages taco seasoning

Saute the onion in medium saucepan until softened.  Add the ground beef and cook until browned.  Season with salt and pepper.

Add the tomatoes, corn, beans and taco seasoning.  Bring to a boil, then let simmer for a couple of hours...if you have the time.  If not, it doesn't need a couple of hours but the flavor sure gets better.

When you serve, make sure you have shredded cheese, maybe some sour cream and Frito's or corn chips.  Delicious!  Corn bread makes a great side dish for this one.

My Youngest was a Rainbow Butterfly Princess.  She came up with this all on her own.  I did the face paint.  Love her creativity. She is such a girly girl.

My Oldest putting on her "brave" face.  She is my drama queen.  We had her sleep in braids so she'd have curly hair.  Looks so pretty in that dark teal dress.  The real reason she wanted to be Merida from brave...is because of the bow and arrow set that I let her have with it.  Now we know the truth. 

Thanks for reading everyone!

Heather

Not-so-Spooky disembodied Hands...Homemade Halloween for Everyone

Are Halloween decorations like children where you can't have a favorite?  Because...this is the 3rd part of my series on simple and cheap decorations...and it may be my favorite...

Again, this uses pretty basic tools...Food Handlers gloves, cute candy, festive ribbons and tape.

Here's what you do.  Get a food-handlers glove.  This may be the only thing that you will have a hard time finding.  And do not make the same mistake I did where I bought latex gloves the first time around....at Costco...in the jumbo mega tub.  No good.  They must be food handlers gloves.  They are clear, for one.  Also they aren't going to stretch all over the place.  Did I mention that I bought a ginormous box of Costco latex gloves the first year I tried this...anyone need some latex gloves?  Anyone?

Now, take festive candies and fill up the gloves.  Make sure to get the fingers good and full. 

Don't go all the way to the top with the candy because you need to tie a knot to prevent spillage.  This is a bit of a trick because I want mine to be quite full...and so I twist the empty portion good and tight and from there I tie my knot.

Take your ribbon, tie a double knot below the knot in the gloves.

Tape to the top of your door.

The End

Thanks for reading!

Other Homemade Halloween for everyone posts:
Spidery Floral Arrangement
Halloween Candy jars

Other fun Halloween Posts:
Ghastly Pillow Covers
Easy to Make House Haunts
Ghastly Wall Hanging

Some tasty treats for Halloween Supper:
Easy Chili and Cheddar Jalapeno Bisciuts
White chocolate Cranberry Bliss Bars...just like Starbuck's

Heather

Halloween Candy Jars...Homemade Halloween for Everyone

Hi everyone.  Today is the 2nd part of our Homemade Halloween for Everyone series.

My idea behind this series is to give people options on how to make fun yet nicely inexpensive decor.  You do not need to buy Halloween decorations in my estimation. I am all about throwing something together.  It gives you such a sense of pride!

Today we are going to discuss Halloween Candy Jars!!  So simple.  You need Candy.  Probably Halloween style.  Can I just put a disclaimer here...I think candy corns are from the devil.  I think they are about the nastiest creation ever invented.  Even though the very thought of their cloying flavor makes me want to gag...right then...I think they're cute.

Put candy in a mason jar.  I have chosen quart size, the better to display the goodies.  Like the eyeballs?

Tie a bow around the top of the jar....again, choose something suitably Halloweenish.  Black with white polka dots....totally Halloweenish.

The End.

So, just remember, it doesn't take a lot of money to make something that will really dazzle your family and friends.

Here is how I display yesterdays and todays Homemade Halloween decorations.  I have placed them along my hutch and I think they really hit the spot for cute spook!

Thanks for reading!

Homemade Halloween for Everyone posts:
Spidery Floral Arrangement
Not-So-Spooky Disembodied Hands

Shared here:
CSI Project

Heather