pigtails and gravy

Thursday, September 30, 2010 | | 2 comments
i got this from one of the local mid-morning lifestyle shows, studio 5, years and years ago. my family seems to like it, even though my oldest turned his nose up to it at first thinking it was a real pigs tail.

pigtails and gravy (country gravy-not the usual red gravy!)


1 pound ground pork or sausage. you can mix some ground beef in there if you want, but dont use all ground beef, there wont be enough flavor.
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (8 oz.)refrigerated crescent rolls
1 pkg (2.64 oz) country gravy mix (mix makes 2 cups)
2 1/2 cups milk

preheat oven to 375 degrees.
mix together ground pork, chopped onion, egg, salt and pepper. mix well.
roll refrigerated crescent rolls out on wax paper or parchment paper which has been dusted with flour. press together seams and roll out to 9x14 inch rectangle. spread meat mixture on roll dough leaving approximately 1/2 along one long side. using wax paper or parchment paper to assist; roll dough and meat up jelly-roll fashion. cut into 12 equal slices. place slices on lightly oiled baking sheet or on parchment paper and flatten slightly.
bake 25-30 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.
while biscuits are baking, combine milk with gravy mix; stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. package gravy mixes usually thicken as they stand. thin to desire consistency with additional milk.
serve gravy over hot biscuits.

new baby gifts

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 | | 5 comments
i got asked to be in charge of the new moms and babies in my ward (neighborhood). part of my job is to get inexpensive gifts for the new babies.
i found this cute idea on support blog for moms of boys. check out the original design here.
now, here is mine and the few things i did differently.
the first thing i did was change the eyes. since we were giving these to newborns, i didn't want any choking hazards. they had buttons but i switched mine to 2 fabric circles for eyes.
i sewed back and forth over the 2 circles a million times, kinda sloppy in a cool way. 
and the jeans material...old jeans from my kids! FREE BABY!
yes, that is guitar hero ribbon! this one is for sure for a boy!

and here is 3 of my creations. i have to make some girl ones here soon, i think with some flowery fabric and some cute ric-rak hair.
makes you wish you were pregnant. doesnt it?!






Beyond The Picket Fence
monogram




another giveaway you can enter...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | | 4 comments
but certainly i will win!
(and im so just kidding!)
my friend barb works out with me most mornings. we do jazzercise together and we aren't what you call the 'jane fonda' types.
we would be the ones in the back tripping.
alot.
but barb has CRAZY MAD SKILLS when it comes to painting!
here is what she is giving away, just in time for halloween!
isn't that adorable?!
and click here to see her etsy shop...
my new favorites? these cute magnets!
so enter today and tell barb i sent you!

i love tomatoes

when i was growing up, we had a small beach house on the jersey shore. it was on brigantine island, which really was more of a sand bar than an island. there wasn't yards with beautiful green grass, only sand with crabgrass. greenhead mosquitoes was the island's official animal.
but i loved being there. (this photo is of me trying to play in the sand/yard.)
and so did my great grand parents. my great grandfather antonio grew the garden of his dream in the back yard, and i feel bad for anyone who got close! he felt that was sacred ground, and he was the only one allowed to touch the dirt that was trucked in from who knows where. (you knew he was angry when he yelled in italian!) he grew eggplants, peppers, onions and tomatoes. we would have to ask him to use some of the food, but he would always agree.
here is a photo of my great grandfather in 1977. i love seeing all the family in the background! (chris likes me to name the people because he likes to make fun of our last names!) i thought i had a photo of him in his garden in brigantine, but i don't.
all this to introduce a tomato dish that i love! and since tomatoes are going crazy right now, i had to share!

1 1/2 lbs chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 T olive oil
1/2 t lemon peel
1 18oz bag cheese ravioli
1/4 c grated parm cheese-the real stuff!

in large bowl combine tomatoes, basil, oil, lemon peel, dash of salt and pepper. let stand about 15.
make your raviolis as instructed on the package.
add hot pasta to tomato mixture and toss. sprinkle with cheese.

do not adjust your computer...

Monday, September 27, 2010 | | 13 comments
this really is the thrifty ba!
can you believe how amazing the thrifty looks?
a few weeks ago, i won a free blog makeover from life in the pitts.
(im always telling people to please read her bog-she is hysterical!
and helene draws the BEST pictures...
well, non-star wars pictures anyways)
she put me in touch with shay from dumplin design studio.
and after a quick questionnaire and a few emails back and forth,
we (actually shay) came up with this great new look for the thrifty ba.
i cant tell you how excited i am about this!
im really cute, and italian but i love blogger because im really not all the good with computers.
and we all know blogger is dummy proof.
much like my life.

so thank you pitts and dumplin!
i love my new look!

i need a little fall-mas now!

doesn't sound as good...
this was a way cheap, way easy craft.
i was even able to finish it while suffering from strep throat (believe me, it wasn't a good week at our home).
i had bought some candy corn last year after halloween (i dont like the taste-i just like the look) and at some point i got some coffee beans on clearance thinking they'd look so cool as a decoration (i do like the smell, never much cared for the taste),
after layering them in a tall skinny jar, i realized that i needed flowers.
i dragged myself out of my deathbed to get to roberts and originally had a vision of sunflowers in here.
but then i saw these poppys (?) and fell in love.
here is a side view
i think i might need to get some of the green leaves out of there.
and parker felt it was time to say 'eek' on the blocks instead of 'poo'. sounds like he might be a party pooper...
Simpsonized CraftsSumo Sweet Stuff Jenny Matlock

how my brother corrupted his niece

Friday, September 24, 2010 | | 3 comments
my brother patrick doesnt have children, but he does his best to mess with the minds of his nieces and nephews.
case in point...

a princess stormtrooper. (helen)
since star wars episode 3 (swe3) is her favorite, 'bapple', as she calls him, he made her a birthday cake NEVER to be forgotten!

bapple and helen.
need a closer look at the cake?
yes, that is anikan skywalker falling into the lava on mustafar. (i had to google the name of the planet. im a pro on the original sw movies, not so much on the newer ones.)

if i could find a can of pumpkins...

Thursday, September 23, 2010 | | 5 comments
i would make this cake.
and maybe not even share.

Pumpkin Spice Cake With Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
1 yellow cake mix
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
½ ginger
1/8 t cloves
1/8 t cardamom
¼ t baking soda
1 cup skim milk
4 egg whites
1 ¼ cups pumpkin
1 t vanilla

Lightly coat a bunt cake pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350. Whisk dry cake mix with spices and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk milk together with egg whites, pumpkin and vanilla until combined. Pour liquid ingredients into mixing bowl and mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Pour batter into pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 30-35 mins. Remove cake from the oven and cool in pan for 15 mins inverted on a rack. Remove the cake from the pan and finish cooling. After cake is completely cool, drizzle /pour frosting over the cake.

Orange And Cream Cheese Frosting

1, 16 oz package of powdered sugar (4 cups)
4 oz 50% less fat cream cheese
2 T fat free sour cream
2 T orange juice
½ t vanilla
1 t orange extract
orange food coloring

Whisk all the ingredients together until well blended. Add 1 or 2 T more o.j. if you are planning to drizzle frosting.


id have a photo here but since i cant actually make this, you will have to wait...

dont hate me because im beautiful...

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | | 4 comments

but you can hate me because i found this at d.i. for $5.
it was used EXACTLY 3 times (i can tell what she cut out from the white mat thingy).
it didn't come with the cartridges, but i think i will be ok!

i love saving chris money!

sick sick sick

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 | | 5 comments
if i don't answer your posts or emails, please forgive me.
for the past week/10 days i have felt like crap.
tired, sore throat, belly aches...
i tried to blame it on allergies.
and the fire.
but per the doctor in at the instacare, it is strep.
lovely.
i have posts that will just be popping up every day but i really feel too yucky to care about much else.
but please comment.
i do read.
i just don't feel like talking back.
(that is a first!)
xoxox

you oughta' be in pictures

| 3 comments
i just found this at savers for $1!
it is a leather frame from pier 1 with the original price tag still on it! ($12.99)
TOTAL SCORE!
 what am i going to put in it? well this photo...

and im sending it to my aunt. i always send her photos of my kids, but i thought she could use an updated one of her favorite niece!
not yet, though. im in the middle of a project for her and her class. stay tuned!

id like to thank...

Monday, September 20, 2010 | | 6 comments
yesterday i won a gift certificate to cns stores! from tracy trinkets and treasures.


 im looking at getting me this...
then i won over at sumos sweet stuff 
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
and i got another gift certificate to christine and co and im getting this...
and id like to thank the firefighters and other who put themselves in harms way. you see, sometimes i can be dramatic, but...

this was my yesterday. (but not my home)
i didn't take either of these photos, but my neighbors did. alot of my neighborhood and city was evacuated. it was a long night watching the news, twitter and facebook for updates. we had our bags packed and ready but thankfully we didn't need it.
here is some info on what is now being called the machine gun fire.
so thank you sumo, tracy and the heros who came to herriman to save our homes!

time to switch my purse...(aka, more mid life crisis shopping)

some of you might remember when i was hitting my mid life crisis and bought this amazing bag! i still love it but with me needing to change to fall (not so much because of the weather as because i'm sick of summer), i put her away for awhile.
sad. she is so pretty.
but thankfully, i have my crazy aunt trish (who thought id be sad seeing both of my kids in school all day and sent me $50 kohls gift card!) who came to my rescue!
so i got this new bag...

i love giraffe prints! ($9.99 plus another 15% off!)
and (among other things) i got a pair of shoes.
well, sandals really. i got the ones on the left 2 1/2 years ago at kohls. they are my 'go to shoes' and even with a little heel, they are so comfy!
i got replacement 'go to shoes' on the right! same company (mootsies tootsies), same size, but a newer version.
im pretty happy with them for many reasons, but here is a big one...
that is right baby! $8.99 plus another 15% off!
and, yes all my shoes are in boxes (if they came in boxes)

the ones that aren't in boxes are only because they didn't come in boxes. i love my shoes boxes!
yes, i know im sick.

my halloween tree

Friday, September 17, 2010 | | 4 comments
i found this dead tree in an empty lot last fall. because as well all know, empty lots are free for anyone to dump on.
(i hate when people do that)
i might do things differently this year, but here is how it went down in 2009....
i spray painted the tree black, then filled an old bucket with styrofoam (we had a new tv, so it was perfect timing!) and then plaster of paris.
this was the problem...
one of many.
the tree was so brittle (it was DEAD! hello!) it broke easily.
then the bucket, even with much styrofoam, was freakin' heavy!
but...once chris got it inside, i made it look awesome!
(but still broke if you breathed near by)
some spiderwebs and black crows
(from the $1 store-not the group!)
it looked fantastic in the entry way until halloween night. then poor chris had to drag it outside...
you cant tell but i have orange halloween lights on the pillars. they look great at night.
my friend jen and i made this skeleton a few years ago. and one of the kids made the broom.
so there you have it-LAST years decorations.
 im hoping to figure out an easier way to make a spooky tree for this year.
BWS tips button

oh. my. awesomeness!

Thursday, September 16, 2010 | | 2 comments
sometimes i hit d.i. (stands for deseret industries). sometimes i hit savers.
sometimes i wish there were more options.
but these aren't too shabby!

this sweet find was $2.99 from williams sonoma
(they are usually $24.99!)
we always hold at least a superbowl party at our home ever year.
more depending who the utes are playing on an away game.
not all 3, just the brown one. i think i will leave it brown for now and put a pumpkin on it.
only 99 cents.
now if there were only MORE thrift store to visit....
just think of all the money i could save chris!

my (VERY) low tech kids homework organization.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | | 2 comments
please don't be disappointed in me.
here is how i organize my kids school work.
it isn't pretty.
but for the past 2 years, it has worked very well.
here is the door going from the mud room into the garage. it is a nice, heavy, ugly, boring, metal door.
perfect for magnets.
each kid has their own magnet with their first initial...
and whatever homework that cant be turned in until friday, whatever spelling test, whatever whatever that i need to keep and not return to school right away goes here.
the lunch menu gets its own magnet. the kids have to put their initial on the days that they want hot lunch at the beginning of the month. no initial, cold lunch that day.

and then for some reason. parker posted this on here and it has been there ever since.

yes, my kids are weird.
but at least they know where their homework is!
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