TShirt Quilts

I love making these.  Not only are they the epitome of "recycled" projects, but if the t-shirts are special to a person, then the quilt has a memory feature.  I've made several of these, the most recent one completed for a former supervisor from our school t-shirts when she changed jobs.

Prices** (plus shipping if out of area) for t-shirt quilts that I custom make are:

Lap - $75
Twin - 85
Regular / Full - $100
Queen / King - $175

I also have a couple different design options, so once you message me, I'll email you back with specifics.  These quilts are super fun to give as gifts or to keep your precious memories together.

Week 1 Menu for 2 by Stacci Slayton Hamilton on Scribd

In the Kitchen

It's a bit blustery here today in Central Texas - - of course, nothing like what's happening up North, but I was truly looking forward to some time in the yard.  Since I'm chillin' in the house, I thought I'd do some bulk cooking for this week so that I'd have food for lunch.

2 things I'm making with leftovers:  chicken spaghetti and chili.

For both of these recipes, the only "new" items I needed were pinto beans, Alfredo sauce, canned tomatoes and pasta.  All other items were things leftover from other recipes.

Leftover items:  frozen celery and onion leftover from the holidays; rotisserie chicken; baked beans and hamburger patties from dinner last week; ground sausage from breakfast bowls.

Chicken Alfredo**  I just added this recipe to a weekly meal planner.

Add 1 cup rotisserie chicken, 1/2 cup chopped onions and 1/2 cup chopped celery to a saucepan.  Cover slightly with water and bring to a boil.  Once the chicken, onions and celery have softened, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan.

Add extra water, if needed, and bring to a boil.  This will be the water to boil your pasta.

I often make homemade pasta sauce or use a mix.  In these instances, I make the sauce while the pasta is cooking.

Drain the pasta and add to a casserole dish.  Add the chicken mixture and pour the Alfredo sauce over the ingredients.  Stir.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.


Chili

In a crock pot, add all the ingredients.  The thing I love about this recipe is that it always differs in what I add.

1 can pinto beans with liquid
1 can chopped tomatoes
Chili powder and cumin

Leftovers:  1/2 pound ground sausage; 1/2 can baked beans; 1/2 pound cooked hamburger; 1/2 cup chopped onions; 1/2 cup chopped celery.

Add water to cover.  I cook my chili on low for over 6 hours, so I want enough water to keep the chili from sticking to the bottom or becoming too thick.  I often don't  add extra salt or pepper because the leftover food already has those, but you can add once the chili has cooked for a while and you have tasted.

What I love about making this chili is all the ways you can use it:  juevos rancheros, chili pie, baked potatoes, soup.  With all the ways you can eat the chili, you can use whatever you have on hand.  This week, I have some corn chips for chili pie and fresh baking potatoes.

Journals

I was looking for my planning sketchbook so that I could make some notes about fashion projects as my vaca winds down and I pulled out my 2006 "pay it forward" journal instead. I had forgotten about it.
There are so many things I want to say about it in an attempt to encourage anyone struggling in her life to provide a way to focus on others for a whole year. There was no pinterest.com in 2006, and I didn't find an inspiration for this project anywhere on the net. The idea for it comes from a collection of ideas I'd encountered, and I took my love of journaling / scrapbooking to create this unique journal.

The only guideline I gave myself was that it had to be positive and focused on others. There are entries that sometimes became a bit negative or focused on me, but for the most part, I tried to channel positive energy into others. I chose 12 people in my life that I felt had provided me support and encouragement, people who I felt I had somehow over used, people I felt I had dismissed or people who I felt a great sense of anger toward. As I just now made my list and tried to see where each person fell, I was amused to see that I had an even list of people meaning that of the 4 categories I outlined, 3 people fell into each category. I had not created the categories beforehand. As I was creating this post, I labeled them. Each person on my list was randomly assigned a month. For those whose birthday I knew, I did not assign that person to their birth month.

 Recap - I grabbed an empty journal, one of those you can get from a dollar store. I eyeballed it and divided it into 12 sections, leaving about 4 pages for the introduction.

 Let's get started - On the first page for each month, I added a divider with the month on it. For my first journal, I used reinforcements because I had them. Use what you have. On the first page for each month, add a box: friend, address, phone number, social media, etc. I made each of these boxes about 7 full lines so that I could also write down special notes for that person (favorite food, favorite beverage, etc., fondest memory). On that front page I also wrote any info about birthdays, upcoming celebrations, etc. I used this journal for my own emotional recovery, so planning ways to pray for others was essential.

 As I read back through January's entries, it took me a bit of time to actually stop dwelling in self-pity. For the proactive / pay it forward idea of this journal - reach out to the person of the month. Plan at least 2 contacts for the month. I didn't tell the people what I was doing; I just reached out. For February, I sent each of my 12 a Valentine's Day card picked for him / her.

 As I read through February's entries, my tears began to fall - I was so in love in Feb. 2006, so hopeful, and so prepared for a sweet life. And each entry transitioned to the next, I could see how old patterns of denial and disillusion cycled through, day after day. Finally, on 3/9, I shift to the original intent of the journal - others. "my proactive journal has been more successful than i had imagined; it gives me a focus - something other than my own self-depression and abysmal self-pity." I pasted in any notes, cards, etc sent back to me from my person of the month. I made notes in the journal of any special contacts made, notes, etc.

 I often reached out to more than the 12 people I'd planned, and I can see those notes tucked in here / there. As April crept in and my self-esteem seemed to bottom out, I aggressively "payed it forward" to others. I made notes about numerous Easter cards and notes sent to others. I also added several magazine clippings. I began the month taking Whitney and Kaitlyn to the park in Early, spending time watching them play.

 Then, in May, I began Co-Dependents Anonymous and began working through the steps for recovery. As I read this 12 year journal now, I can hear more of my recovered voice in the struggling of May's entries. It took a while for this journal to get me where I had hoped it would get me; but honestly working on the recovery process helped get me started. I encourage anyone needing to work through burn out, depression or grief to try a "proactive" or "pay it forward" journal and to approach it honestly. The other amazing thing that came about from this process, for me, was reaching out to a CoDA group and putting my recovery first. So many things fell into place for me in 2006 that would be necessary for me to survive the next 12 years. And I can say that I am super excited about 2019 and where I am.

Thrifty Menu: Crockpot Potatoes and Roast Beef

I had about 1/3 a pound of shaved roast beef left over from sandwiches.  It seems once we have sandwich night, no one wants to have them again for a few weeks.  I always try to purchase just enough deli meat for the occasion, but sometimes left-overs happen.

I knew I wanted to do something different, not traditional pot roast or hash.  I did some research.  What I put together was a combination of a couple different recipes. I also knew I wanted to throw it all into a crockpot.

Here's what I came up with.

Crockpot Potatoes and Roast Beef

2 medium potatoes
1/3 cup shaved roast beef
1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup butter
1/2 Tab chopped garlic
1/2 Tab flour
1/4 Tab chopped parsley
1/2 Tab mustard
salt, pepper
1/2 cup water

Coat crock pot with non-stick spray.
Peel potatoes; thinly slice.  Layer in crock-pot.

In skillet, melt butter.  Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley and salt / pepper.  Stir together and cook until onions are tender.
Add water and mustard and stir until well blended.
Add shaved roast beef and cook until covered.  If the mix is too thick, add water.

Pour over sliced potatoes in crockpot and cook on high for 1-2 hours.

Before serving, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella
or provolone cheese.

Thrity Menu: Scampi

Try finding a recipe for scampi that does not use lots of expensive ingredients, such as the white wine.  Specifically, what I wanted to find was a recipe that I could conjure up without having to buy anything special............sorta the "poor man's" version.

I realized that aside from the economical point, I also wanted a recipe that allowed me to continue to be very flexible and utilize what I already had on hand.  Living so close to a grocery store, I could walk over and buy any ingredient I did not have on hand already.

Food prices have shifted upward about 15%.  Most news reports are not showing this much of an increase, but I think the news tells the story for increases just in the product, not in the distribution.  I have kept a close eye on my regular food purchases, and I see at least a 10% increase across the board.

So, thrifty mom becomes even more thrifty.  I do not want to compromise my family's food choices.  We will have to cut back on the times we do eat out now, but I can be creative to make that happen without too much of a sacrifice.  Because I have always been very good at not throwing away a single thing, I thought I'd finally sit down and put some of these tips online for others who may be experiencing a bit of sticker shock at the grocery store.

Scampi

There are a couple of variations to shrimp scampi if you research "poor man's scampi" - using chicken, popcorn shrimp or imitation lobster chunks.  What I have on hand is some flaked imitation lobster left over from a seafood dip recipe.  I did look at shrimp at the store, but at $5 / pound for the smaller shrimp in the frozen section, it was not in my budget this week.  I have about half a pound of the flakes, so to stretch those out, I will make more of the sauce to cover the pasta.

1 cup butter / margarine
3 Tab garlic (minced, chopped, dry)
1 teas flour
1/4 teas red pepper
1 Tab basil
1 Tab parsley
1 Tab lemon juice
1/4 teas nutmeg
1/2 cup milk *

Melt butter / margarine over low heat;  add all remaining ingredients except milk.  Heat to simmering, stirring often to keep from sticking.  Gradually add milk, stirring consistently.  Add additional milk to achieve a thickness you want.  I wanted my sauce to be thicker.  Stir in imitation lobster flakes and simmer on low until heated through.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Linus Project - August contribution

August's contribution is a completely one-of-a-kind quilt that I started working on during Christmas 2012.  I had seen this calendar at Hobby Lobby on clearance for 2013 with different cupcakes.  Whitney stole my calendar, but the idea for a cupcake applique remained with me.  It took me several attempts to get my two contrasting pieces of the cupcake shape to fit together into a nice shape.  I made a dozen different appliques, and then decided to use most of them into a quilt.

The material for the quilt top is completely repurposed from other projects.  I purchased the blue floral contrast for the front piece and the Flower Power print for the back piece to tie this together.

Total Cost:  $8
Total Hours:  16