BABY BLANKET BUSINESS

I made this baby quilt for my friend that is going to have a baby. You have probably seen them before, they're called rag quilts. You sew the seams to the outside and then cut the seams so when you wash it, it becomes frayed.

(Click on the picture for a closer look.)

I had an idea of selling these on Etsy or something, so I need everyone's opinion. It measures 40"x 34"; it has two layers of flannel and a middle layer of batting; it cost about $20 (I used more expensive fabric) to make, although I think I could get the price down to maybe $10 or $15; and this is the kicker, it took me a long time to make it, I'm guessing maybe 6 or 7 hours spread out over a few days. I think I can get the time it took down, once I get making them. So, I guess I am left thinking, "Hmmmm. Is it worth my time?" With all the facts, how much do you think I could sell one for? Or how much would you buy one for? Let's say it costs me $15 to make and 5 hours to make it. If I sell it for $30 I will earn about $3/hr. I would have to sell 10 blankets at this rate to make $150! $30 does seem like a lot for a little blanket, but it's a really nice, homeade, soft and heavy blanket. If I hike the price up to $40 I would at least make $5/hr. and if I sold for $50 I don't think anyone would ever buy it, but at least I would make $7/hr. Most people would probably just decide to make it themselves. I am guessing it's probably not going to be worth my time.

I will have boy and girl colors and package them cute like this.

A closer look.

A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS

Last Saturday we went to Heber City for a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. The tickets were kind of pricey for only a 25 minute ride, but the kids seemed to enjoy it. There was also other things to do like, get a rub on tattoo, pet the mini horses and get your picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt. Again, for the expensive price, it seemed a bit unorganized and we were left thinking, "That's it?" We are glad we went, but would probably not go again.

Thomas himself!

ALL ABOARD!

Hally was feeling a little bit sick that day.

The 3 girls.

CHEESE!

We went with our neighbors, the Simisters, and this is their little boy and Addi's best friend, Haven.

"When's the train going to start moving?"

Sir Topham Hatt

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Tamale Pie - Crock Pot

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (28 oz.) can enchilada sauce
• 1(6.5 oz.) pouch of golden corn muffin and bread mix
• 1/3 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
• sour cream

-In a large skillet, brown the ground beef, season with salt and pepper.  Put the browned, ground beef in a crock pot along with the kidney beans and enchilada sauce, stir together.

-In a small bowl combine the muffin mix, milk, butter, egg & cheese.  Stir until moistened.  Spoon over the beef mixture in the crock bot.

-Cover and cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours or until toothpick inserted in center of corn bred comes out clean.  Top individual serving with sour cream.

*This is sooooo good.  I tried it when we first got married 5 years ago and I still make it quite often.  It's one of Tim's favorites.

POOR PINCHY

Pinchy was belly-up this morning. Sorry honey, I know you loved him, but it's probably for the best. I am sure he is happy now in crawdad heaven with his crawdad brothers and sisters.

"MUST-HAVE" MONDAY

I love Downeast Basics clothing.  I especially love this Wonder Tee.  I wear one almost everyday as an undershirt.  They're great if you are trying to achieve the "layered look."  They come in almost every color and are only $9.99.  

A NEW PET

Is it a dog? No. Is it a cat? No. (Tim would never bring a cat home due to his phobia of the feline.) Is it a horse? No. Is it a chicken, a cow, a ferret, a frog, a turtle, a flying squirrel? No, no, no, no, no, no! Then what is it?

It's a crawdad!!!

Every year Tim's work has a crawdad fry. Being in the receiving department, Tim had the job of unloading all of the Crawdads shipped in from Louisiana. He thought, "How fun would it be if I kept one for a pet?" So yes....... he brought one home and named it Pinchy! It lives in a plastic crate in our kitchen!!!!! I can't even bare to look at it. My husband is such a kid. Who brings a crawdad home for a pet?!! Crustaceans do not make a good pet! You can't hold it or pet it. (Well I guess you could, but who would want to do that?!) I am trying to get him to go release it in Utah Lake or something. I am generally a very easy going wife, but I might just have to put my foot down of this one. You can tell by the next pictures just how much the kids love our new pet too!

11 FACTS ABOUT HALLY

1. Hally can pull the cutest sad faces.......

2. ....She also has one of the happiest faces I have ever seen.

3. Hally won't leave her pants on, whenever I put them on, she takes them right off.

4. Hally likes to wear band-aids even when she doesn't have an ouchie.

5. Hally loved to swim last year, but she doesn't seem too sure about it this year.

6. Hally loves her sister Addi and follows her around everywhere. For the most part they get along really well, but she's not afraid to stick up for herself. If someone gives her a hard time she will yell at them and then hit them.

7. Hally loves to dress-up!

8. Hally is our little sweetie and she just melts her mom and dad's heart!

9. It seems like Hally's nose is always running.

10. Hally is always concerned about others and likes to share.

10. Hally has big, beautiful, blue eyes just like her daddy!

11. Hally has crazy hair in the mornings.

*Hally tags Olivia, Ty, Shelby, Haven & Miles, Paxton, The Passey Kids, The Burris Kids!

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Refrigerator Biscuit Mini Pizzas

• 8 jumbo, flaky refrigerator biscuits
• 1 small jar pizza sauce
• mozzarella cheese, grated
• pepperoni, olives, canadian bacon, pineapple and whatever else you would like to use for a topping

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Flatten the dough out on a non-greased cookie sheet.  Four biscuits will fit on one cookie sheet.  Next spread with pizza sauce and sprinkle with cheese.  Then top with your favorite toppings.  Cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

-These are fast and easy and fun for kids!  Addi loves to help me make these and enjoys eating them too!

HEARTBREAK AND TOURMENT

We have been grieving the last few days over the Jazz losing to the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs. The Jazz beat the Rockets in 6 games (if they were going to lose, they should have just lost this series so Tim wouldn't have had to feel so guilty about going to the Jazz/Lakers game on Mother's Day!;)), then moved on to the Lakers and lost in 6 games. Last year they made it to the Western Conference Finals and lost to the Spurs. Some would argue that the Utah Jazz is one of the best teams in the league as far as depth is concerned. A lot of teams have some superstar players, but look to their bench and they fall short. The Jazz on the other hand, have some amazing starters (no Kobe Bryants though) and a great bench, which makes them a strong team through and through...... then why can't they win a championship? I don't know. They have had so many opportunities, but just seem to always let it slide right through their fingers. Every year we have so much hope and then our hearts get drug through the mud! It seems now we have nothing to do. We no longer have to plan everything around the Jazz games, shell out bookoo bucks for playoff tickets and ride the the emotional roller coaster of wins and loses. Before we know it though, come October, we will be back in the swing of things.

11 FACTS ABOUT ADDI

Addi has been tagged by Boston and so I will be typing this for her. Here are 11 facts about Addi.

1. Addi loves to dance!

2. Addi loves nursery rhymes and has a lot of them memorized.

3. Addi is not very daring.

4. Addi adores all of her grandparents!

5. Addi is such a good big sister to Hally. Most of the time they get along so well together.

6. Addi loves her cousins!

7. This is Addi's favorite book.

8. Addi is such a girly girl and loves to dress-up!

9. Addi is very much a person of routine. Everything has to go in a certain way or she will get upset. For instance, when she goes to bed at night, the following things have to take place in the exact order: First we have to brush her teeth, then we have to say prayers, next we have to read a book, usually her favorite, Ellie. We have to give hugs and kisses, find out which cheek is softest, give eskimo kisses and butterfly kisses, then say, "I love you", "sleep good", and "sweet dreams". She has to have a drink sitting on the very bottom left corner of her nightstand and have her tinker bell light situated in the exact center of her nightstand. She also likes to have her room clean before she goes to bed. She must always, always, sleep with her blue Care Bear which she has named Kikko. Then before we shut the door, we must blow a kiss and wave bye bye, always leaving the door open a crack.

10. Addi absolutely loves candy, chocolate, and cupcakes!

11. Addi has the most beautiful smile I have ever seen!

*I tag any kids that ever look at this blog!:)

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Sour Cream & Chicken Enchiladas

• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into small pieces (season with McCormick Montreal Seasoning)
• 16 oz. container of sour cream
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 c. salsa
• 2 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
• 1 dozen flour tortillas

-Mix together the first 5 ingredients and half of the cheese, in a medium bowl.

-Warm tortillas in the microwave.

-Spoon 1/3 c. mix in tortilla, then roll up and line tortillas in a 9x13 casserole dish.  Pour remaining sour cream mixture over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min. or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

*If you don't like mushrooms, feel free to use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup.

"MUST-HAVE" MONDAY

I consider paint a "must-have" because I think white walls are boring!  Painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to decorate a home.  Add some color to reflect your personality or your own personal style.  Don't tell me you're not "daring" enough.  If you consider painting some color on a wall daring, you probably have a pretty bland life.  You don't even have to paint bright colors to make an impact.  Neutral tones (I don't mean different shades of white or off-white) are beautiful!  You can paint the majority of your home in the same neutral color with accent walls here and there.  Be BOLD, be DARING, be CREATIVE, and I promise you will love the end result and never go back to boring white.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Best-Ever Lasagna

• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 16 oz. cottage cheese
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 2 c. or more mozzarella cheese, grated

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Cook the lasagna noodles until soft.  Brown the ground beef in a frying pan, then stir in the spaghetti sauce.  In medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, sour cream, and 1 c. of the mozzarella cheese.

-In a 9X13" pan, layer 3 noodles, 1/2 the meat sauce and 1/2 the cottage cheese mixture.  Then layer 3 more noodles, the rest of the meat sauce, and the rest of the cottage cheese mixture.  Then layer the last three noodles and the rest of the mozzarella cheese. (You may need to add even more cheese to completely cover the top of the noodles.)

-Bake for 30 min. or until bubbly and lightly golden brown.

*This is one of the best lasagnas I have tried.  The sour cream really makes all the difference in this lasagna!

"MUST-HAVE" MONDAY

I use this seasoning in many of my chicken recipes.  One of the number one rules to cooking (my grandma taught me) is to always, always, season your meat!  Even if it's just salt and pepper, it's so important to season your meat!  This holds true for every type of food I can think of that includes meat.  Whether it be the ground beef in spaghetti (before you put the sauce in), or canned chicken in a salad, you must always season the meat first.  To season the meat first always ads so much flavor.  It can make a bland dish a PAZAM dish!  This McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning is great for most chicken dishes just to give some extra kick!