3.14.2011

Banana Oatmeal Walnut Muffins

The time change this weekend hit me unusually hard. I was pretty much in sweats and a ponytail all day. And, I baked.

These muffins are like all the yumminess of bowl of oatmeal, in a moist muffin. And pretty guilt-free as well!

The original recipe is for gluten-free muffins....mine are not.

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine oatmeal, yogurt and milk. Mix and let soak for 15 minutes

Mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.

Add brown sugar, egg, bananas and oil to the soaked oatmeal and mix well. Add walnuts and mix well.

Add the oatmeal mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well.

Fill large muffin cups about 2/3 full, sprinkle with walnuts and bake for 20 minutes.

The original recipe said it made 12 large muffins, but my batter only made 9 for some reason.

Enjoy!

Hope you got through the time change better than I did.

3.12.2011

Cloth Pull-Ups


The other day I came home from work to the news that my two and half year old son had peed on the potty at school. I was so excited I ran out and bought a new potty seat, extra pants and thought about buying some pull-ups. But as I stood there with the package in my hand, I had my usual thought.....I bet I can make these.

I never used cloth diapers when my kids were babies. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't imagine all the extra laundry and work, and truthfully, I was never fully convinced that the extra water usage was better than the extra trash. But, since we're all better rested now, I figured I'd try out making some re-usable training pants.

I bought a great pattern for kids underwear from That Darn Kat. I first saw it here at Noodlehead.


I modified the pattern by adding a layer of PUL (which is a PAIN to work with) and 4 layers of cotton flannel to the front.


I sandwiched the layers and basted along the edges to hold it in place.

Then, I basically made 2 pairs of underwear, using the PUL panel for the outer and and just plain cotton for the inner. I put them together with wrong sides together and right sides facing out, and finished the waist and legs like the pattern describes.

This is far from my best handiwork, so don't look too close. The last pair I made I widened the waist band and finished the legs by putting the ribbing around the layers and stitching all at once, kind of like you would with bias tape.


The boy was surprisingly excited to put them on after not taking a nap yesterday, and the best part....they actually work. Which means they work as far as holding all the pee in. And, he felt wet, which was part of my desire to make these. I think actually feeling wet helps them learn when they've peed and helps them want to use the potty.

We'll see.....

Oh, and here are the girl, non pull-up version I made for my daughter. They are soooo cute and a great way to use up scraps.

3.06.2011

Ahoy!

My sewing room has had a nautical theme here lately, as I work on a few orders I got after this outfit was on Made and Rae's, Celebrate the Boy Etsy Roundup.

I didn't have more of the striped fabric because it was made from a repurposed T, so I bought some similar fabric from The Fabric Fairy. They have a great selection of knits, and other fabrics as well.

This super cute romper is a custom order for a soon to arrive little preemie. I never would have thought to put lime green with navy blue. Soooo cute!


The striped onesie with red trim will be in my shop soon, but I have a dilemma. I really want to applique an anchor on the front, and my husband thinks it's too much.

The real applique will probably be yellow....this one is cut from the recycling, so just ignore the writing etc.

What do you think?