Natural Beauty
: when we pay our heating bills it bothers me that we don't have insulated windows. but when the ice forms inside the house on mornings like this one i don't mind as much.
Homemade Chicken Stock
: i've never made chicken stock from scratch before. i have been getting by on bouillon cubes and the the canned/boxed stuff on occasion. i gave it a whirl last week and am so happy that i did. our batch is fully organic, sodium free and frozen for easy use in 1/2 c. portions. i poured the cooled stock in muffin tins, left them in the freezer overnight, and then let them thaw just enough to pop them out the next morning. they are stored in a freezer bag for future use. now i have 12 cups of stock on hand and ready to go. i love it. and will do it again and again and again.
Sandwich Wraps and Snack Bags
: this past week i made a two more sets of re-usable snack bags and coordinating sandwich wraps. they are used daily around here. i especially love seeing them full and lined up in the mornings for the family. not pictured are a set for me, and a new extra set which is handy for when one of the girls forgets her lunchbox at school. you can never be too prepared can you? and i'll take any excuse to sew more.
: it was my 34th birthday this week. it was also my husband's 34th birthday. we are celebrating early next week with a mini-getaway. i hope to do lots of knitting. i know i will do lots of swimming and sleeping - 32 weeks has found me slowing down a bit, and more sleepy than usual. my birthday present to myself was a new fiber adventure. after seeing these mittens i thought i would give it a try. i may also purchase yarn to make a FLS. it is february after all isn't it?
5 comments:
whoa, lots of great making going on in your parts! I also made my first chicken stock recently--would love to hear any tips and tricks you come up with as you work through more batches.
happy early birthday beth! I've been thinking about those sandwich wraps for months, do you have a pattern? or suggestions on that material?
Beth - I should have contacted you. Rich & I were looking for reusable bags for our lunches. I had a difficult time finding any in stores, don't think I was too surprised about that since they don't recycle here in Las Vegas. I just ended up buying tupperware for sandwiches, snacks and fruit. And we just throw them in our reusable shopping bags.
Have fun on your mini-trip with Dan. xoxoxoxo
Chicken stock tips: In the fall/winter use celeriac instead of store-bought celery - it makes the stock nice and creamy. And I strain mine with cheesecloth draped over/in a regular collander. That keeps the stock a uniform consistency. Last, I don't add any salt to my batches - we just wait and salt the end product instead.
Wraps and baggie tutorials are linked from this post:
http://attheendofthisrow.blogspot.com/2010/01/reusable-food-wrappers-and-pouches.html
Unfortunately I don't have any more shower curtain - I just used the last bit - it was a strip I cut off long ago b/c the curtain was too long when we used it. It was pretty old so there was no 'new shower curtain smell' anymore.
You could make linings with the food-grade bags from cracker or cereal boxes. You could also try oil cloth? Lastly, you could pick-up a new non-PVC shower curtain, open it up and let it air out for awhile and then use it...
Really the snack bags don't need a lining - crackers, dried fruit and the like don't need them. I would opt for a lining of some sort for the sandwich wraps though, or you'll be washing them after every hummus or p&j sandwich that goes in one.
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