New house! New house!

"A new house! Going to the new house!" My son excitedly says every time we go home. Our home! After 9 long months of looking at houses, almost buying one then it falling through...we finally found our new home! We are so happy and thankful we were able to find a house that is where we are are supposed to be. This has definitely been a test of patients and humility. In the long term view, it was just a few months with many ups and downs . We have a lot of work to do before we get the house they way we want it and functioning smoothly inside and out. We plan on updating a little at a time, planting as much food as we can handle and making a fun and loving home for our family. 

I am excited to try as many projects with little to zero money. Not just because we don't have much to spend but I feel very strongly about reusing materials, collecting free materials that would otherwise be garbage or sit wasting away. I might not be able to afford to drive a hybrid yet or add a windmill or solar panels to my roof, but this is good way to start being a better human!

I love getting up early and watching Zion (our dog) run through her yard and stare at the animals across the street. We have a neighbor with chickens and ducks and another with llamas. We already feel like this is the place God has planned for us to be. Even before we moved in. I know we will be used at this location and I can't wait!

We have many projects coming and the list grows everyday. We know we can't do everything but we plan to continue to work to make this our home each day! Once we finish unpacking I will post some pictures and videos. Keep and eye out on the HandMadeByKristen YouTube channel for more how to videos, progress updates and  new project ideas!

I will be at the Covington Hollydaze Bazaar on December 7, 2013. If you are in the South King County / North Pierce County area stop by my booth, Chee Chee and Company from 9:00am - 4:00pm.

Jenkins Creek Elementary School  
26915 186th Ave. S.E. 
Covington, WA 98042

~Connect with me ~ 

YouTube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris


Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Pinterest : cheecheeandco

Instagram : cheecheeandco

Twitter : cheecheeandco

Fuzzy wuzzy was a cryin'

 For Halloween this year I made my son a grizzly bear costume. He was given the choice of a bear or a lion because I had some left over brown fuzzy fabric gifted to me from my aunt. I finished it a few days ago but now he refuses to wear it. Negotiating with a two year old is not for the faint of heart. 

So... now I am trying to convince him it is just a sweatshirt since he will not even see the ears on the hood or the tail on the pants. So far he is smarter than I thought and will not fall for my games. If you want to make your own fuzzy animal costume here is what I did...

You will need:
Fabric - Enough to make to the size that fits (I used approximately 1 yard to make a 2T / 4T )
A pair of pants and a sweatshirt with hood to use as the pattern
Elastic
Scissors
Sewing machine or needle and thread
Felt -Optional

This project will take about 45 minutes to prep and assemble


After washing the fabric, fold in half then lay out pants and sweatshirt. Pin in place or chalk outline.

Cut out pattern and pin together until you are read to sew.

Pattern for hood and ears/tail

Inside of the back of the hood

For hood, cut two pieces for the side and then one center strip. Sew all together then add to shirt base. 

For the hood sides, make sure one is facing to the left and one to the right so the rounded side is the back of the hood.



To add elastic to the waist band of the pants and cuffs of shirt and / or pants, Fold the right-side in then sew seam with enough room for width of elastic. Leave 1/2 -1 inch opening to feel elastic through. Pull elastic all the way through and sew ends together. The sew closed seam.


I added felt to the tummy and inner ears. This is optional but can add some character to your costume.

For the tummy, round one piece of felt into a large oval. Pin in place then sew with a 1/4" seam allowance. I reinforced with a zigzag stitch for a second round.

For the ears and tail I just used a scrap piece of fabric (see pattern above). Cut 2 pieces for each ear and 2 for the tail. Sew together leaving bottom flat side open. You can stuff the ears to make them more full. I cut matching felt from tummy area to go onto the ears then reinforced with a zigzag stitch as seen here.




Once ears are ready you can cut a slit in the hood where you would like each to go. Insert ear and then sew each side of slit and ear together (see right).

***

I will break down my son sooner or later to wear that costume. If that later happens to come next year, I did add a 4 inch seam allowance so I can let out the length if needed. If you made a costume this year I would love to see your pictures or video!

~Connect with me ~ 

Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Youtube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris

Enjoying the season

I have gotten to a point in my adult life where I am trying to enjoy the season I am in and make the best of what I do have and the people I am sharing it with. I always struggle, but nothing worth working toward will be as sweet without a few hiccups along the way. Autumn is now here and we are still not in a house. We got close but it fell through after waiting for 3 months for a word from the bank. Frustrated, but kind of relieved. I was not in love with that house and now I know it was just not the right one for us. So we are still looking for a house and I have a goal to be in before the new year!

So with buying a house comes a lot of waiting. When I am waiting and get bored or anxious I tend to bake.I have not been feeling very creative lately for many reasons but still like to change things up a bit when I can. Most recently I had been making Zucchini bread, thanks to a lovely friend that gave me some awesome Zucchini. My recipe makes two medium sized loaves so we have been trying to get in the habit of eating one and freezing the other for later in the year. Good thing too because between my husband, son and I we can finish a loaf before it is even cooled.

I have gotten my recipe that way I like it now for the basic bread, so I have been trying to add things to it now. Raisin and walnuts are always good and most recently ginger. I use 1/4 cup dried pieces of ginger that have been cut up finely, then just stir into the batter before pouring into the pan. It is not too intense but adds a little kick to the bread. I highly recommend you try it!

Here is a link for my Basic Zucchini Bread  recipe to try for yourself. We also like to top with a little butter and or honey.

Enjoy!

~Connect with me ~ 

Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Youtube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris

Frozen Banana Treat - Revisited

If anyone reads my blogs regularly or happened to come across a blog I did on a frozen banana treat I am revisiting my original recipe and trying a new spin (link below). Since blackberries are in such abundance in the Pacific Northwest right now, I am always looking for a new way to use them. They are one of my families favorite berries and worth every little thorn to get them. You can buy them too to avoid the literal blood sweat and even tears, but I vowed to never buy something that grows wild in my own little part of the world.

Once you have your berries you can choose to separate out the seeds or leave the berries whole. If you have frozen berries you can add them whole with the bananas. If separating the seeds, you can pour about 1/4 - 3/4 cups of prepared blackberry juice into your bananas as you puree. This is also great with blueberries and strawberries.

Here is a link for my version of a non-dairy ice cream alternative:

Frozen Almond Butter Bananas

~Connect with me ~ 

Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Youtube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris

Tropical Banana Bread

While grocery shopping I like to hit up the discount section in the back of the store. In some store there is also a produce area that has discounted fruits and vegetables. I lucked out one day, and found about 6 bunches of very ripe organic bananas for 50 percent of per pound. I am sucker for a good deal on things we use, so naturally I snatched them all up. 

Freezing is a great way to keep bananas that are on there last leg. I usually peel and cut up about 3-4 per freezer bag or vacuum seal bag. We like to use them for a frozen ice cream alternative (link below) or in a banana bread. Bored with my regular banana bread recipes and with a new, but slightly dented can of pineapple from the discount section, I made an alteration then made what I like to call a Tropic Banana Bread.

Left -  Tropical banana bread . Right - Original banana bread.

Tropical Banana Bread
   2 C Flour (1 C White, 1 C Whole Wheat)
1/2 C Butter (Soften)
1/2 C Brown Sugar 
   1 C Bananas Mashed
3/4 C Pineapple (Crushed and drained)
1/2 C Coconut (Shredded)
   2 Eggs (Beaten)
   1 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Salt

Sift flours, soda and salt together then set aside. Cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Once combine, add fruit and stir in flour mixture.

Pour into 9 X 5 loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done in the middle. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan then remove and finish cooling on wire rack.

Here is a link for my version of a non-dairy ice cream alternative:

Frozen Almond Butter Bananas

~Connect with me ~ 

Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Youtube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris

Bacon Clam Chowder

A few weeks ago, my Husband and I were able to spend some time just the two of us. It was nice to get away from the kids, our two year old and our dog, to just relax a bit. We honestly did not do as much relaxing as I had hoped but we did have a great time together. One day we went clam digging in Sequim, WA. If you are not familiar with Washington, it is on the upper edge of the peninsula boarding the Strait of Juan de Fuca just south of Victoria B.C. or more simply cold and wet most of the year. We managed to get enough Littleneck clams to make a double batch of clam chowder. This is all my husband's department because I really don't like shellfish. So here is his recipe for Bacon Clam Chowder!

Bacon Clam Chowder

60-80 Clams

      4 Large Russet Potatoes (Peeled and Diced)

      1 lb Bacon

      1 Large Onion (Diced)

      1 Pint Half-and-Half

16 oz Clam Juice (Bottled or use juice left from cooking clams)

      2 T Salt

      2 T Fresh Ground Pepper

      2 T Old Bay Seasoning

First you will need to clean the clams in cold water and then boil until they are cooked through. Once they open their shells they are done. You can take the clams out then scoop out the meat from inside. (You can add some extra seasonings at this point)

While the clams are boiling, peel and dice potatoes. Boil until tender but not falling apart then set aside.

Once all the shells are cleaned of the meat, you can discard.Cut the clams into bite sized pieces then set aside.


Cut bacon into 1/2" -1 " pieces then cook in frying pan. Set aside on paper towel to soak up any grease.



Drain all grease from pan except 2 tablespoons. Add the onion into the grease until onions soften and become translucent.

I large pot add half and half, clam juice and seasonings over medium heat until well combined. Add onions then gently stir in clams and potatoes. Bring to boil, time for 5 minutes. Yields about 12 servings.

You are now ready to eat! Serve with a light salad and bread or crackers.We hope you enjoy this chowder and would love to see your pictures and feedback about this recipe.

~Connect with me ~ 

Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Youtube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris

Cherry Pineapple Marmalade

This last week my wonderful husband surprised my with about 40 pounds of cherries he picked from a friend's property. I was planning on not doing anything aside from simply eating cherries this year to help cost costs so this was exciting and a little overwhelming all at the same time. I usually try to plan out what I am going to preserve for our food storage for the year to come at least a few weeks in advance. So after I got a stomach ache from eating too many, I decided I better figure out what we will do with the other 39 pounds.

I started by looking through my trusty Ball canning book circa 1966. It has some great recipes that are hard to find and tips for canning. I came across some cherry preserves and marmalade so I thought I would give it a try. Check out the video below on how to can Cherry Pineapple Marmalade.

For this recipe you will need:
2 C Cherries (I used 1 C Bing and 1 C Rainier)
2 C Crushed Pineapple
2 C Evaporated Cane Sugar

Measure out your sugar and set aside.

Pit and crush cherries into small pieces. (I used a food processor to pulse a few time)

Strain most of the juice from your pineapple and cherries.

In large pot, stir sugar into fruit then bring to a boil. 

Once your fruit has reached the boiling point time for 10 minutes.

Pour into hot jars, top with lids and rings then process for 10 minutes.

This recipe yields approximately five half pints. The Ball book stated that it would yield three half pints so I was a little surprised when it filled more. Next time I think I will try to get more juice out of the fruit before cooking to see if that makes a difference in the yield. Also measure the fruit when it is whole to see what difference that will make. Please let me know if you try this recipe and what you think! 

Thank you for reading and watching!

~Connect with me ~ 

Web site: Chee Chee and Company

Facebook : Chee Chee and Company

Youtube : HandmadebyKristen

Twitter: Handmadebykris