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Pinterest Challenge – Baked Chicken Taquitos

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Picture from Christy’s blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything

These are baked chicken taquitos. Click that link for the original pin. Here is the link to the original blog post. Now go make them and eat them because they are delicious.

Bye.

Oh you want more from me?

Seriously, these are amazing. They are SO good and super easy to make. I made double what the original recipe called for because I made them when I was visiting my Dad, one of my brothers, and my nephews. When you have a household of mostly boys (all of them plus my kids outnumber Alice and I by 8 to 2), you need a lot of food and it has to be good. Everyone loved this. My brother took them to work the day after I first made them and shared with his co-worker. He declared them delicious and wanted the recipe for his wife.

I’m not going gluten free or carb free, but I am trying to stay away from bread, tortillas, etc., for a couple of weeks so I don’t see myself making these anytime soon. I bet there are gluten free tortillas out there…I wonder if they taste good. I bet if they aren’t good, these will make them good. The chicken mixture is magic.

First WIP Wednesday of 2012

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The break from school (for the kids) and classes and work (for me) and daycare (for JW) was awesome. I loved just being home. I told my friends I loved being able to take a shower and just put on clean pjs again. I spent most of our vacation in pjs. I look forward to the next one!

For the first WIP Wednesday of 2012 – I am working on a few projects!

Here are my fabrics for the older (2010) quilt along I found:

The fabrics are not a charm pack like the author is working with and I’m okay with that. I love these fabrics, but after looking at this picture I realize I should probably replace the two with light backgrounds. I don’t want them blending into the white on white background. I can’t wait to get started on this quilt, I am going to work on cutting everything out and maybe some beginning sewing this weekend.

I haven’t picked out any fabrics for the HST BOM yet, but I am thinking about what I want to use. I have a lot of fabric and it’s not out on shelves so it can be tough to remember what I have. I end up with boxes and bins open all over my sewing room and it becomes a mess that I don’t want to go through, I just want the room clean again! I take this as a sign to clean up the space and have a better system for my fabric. I don’t want it tucked away never to be seen again.

I also commented on Amy’s one week challenge and am working on an oven mitt. I am using the pattern from this blog post and these fabrics, I stitched them last night and will work on cutting them out, etc., throughout the week.

I tried making an oven mitt myself during the holiday break and it went horribly wrong.

That oven mitt, it only fits my kids. This is my lesson on using a pattern. I haven’t even finished it because I was frustrated. Now I think it’s funny and I’ll get the binding on this weekend.

QA, BOM, & Being Crazy Busy

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I am going to be crazy busy for the next few months, the entire spring semester actually. I am taking five classes this semester. Five. FIVE! I know it will be okay because I am taking two and then three, because of the way UMUC has restructured their semester (they offer 8 week semesters now, which makes you a crazy person working on classes, but then you are finished after two months. This new structure allowed me to take more then two classes a semester in the fall, and again now.). Once I am done with these five classes, I am done with my undergraduate studies.

That blows my mind. I am excited way deep down inside. The excitement will come to the surface the closer I get, or maybe not until I apply for graduation? It’ll happen though. I have to get through these classes, but this has been a long time coming. I can not stress enough the importance of finishing your undergraduate degree in a timely manner! I am so ready to move on with my studies.

I am still working part time and the older kids are currently in basketball. The baby will probably go to daycare an extra day of the week so I can get my schoolwork done and also attend a couple of classes in person (I am taking two classes locally, from NWIC, which I am transferring to UMUC). Once basketball is over, the kids will play soccer. We are starting the semester off by not watching tv, this happened in the fall and the winter break was plenty of time to get caught up on my favorite tv shows. TV is something I can definitely sacrifice.

But I did want to find another quilt along to do this year. Last year I did the postage stamp quilt along, and it was so much work – and so very worth it. I loved making that quilt, even if it took much longer then the initial quilt along. I haven’t finished it beyond the top, but I think I will send it out to be quilted. I found an old quilt along – the Charm Pack Quilt Along that was posted in 2010. The link will take you to the blog posts that are all labeled with that, so start from the bottom and go up. I have my fabrics picked out and cut into squares already. I’ll post a picture on Wednesday for WIP Wednesday’s!

I also found the HST BOM:

This looks very fun and since it is one block a month, this is easily do-able despite my crazy schedule. I will have to have some down time otherwise I will just be crazy, and not crazy busy. I haven’t picked my fabrics for the HST BOM, but I am going to do so before Wednesday so I’ll share then!

Classes start today and I am working all week because we are implementing a new database program in my office. Here’s to being crazy busy!

Pinterest Challenge – Monster Bookmarks

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Brittany has put forward a Pinterest Challenge! This is a good one since pinterest can be so inspiring – but we never get off our computers and actually do the project we are so in love with. She’s linking up every Thursday, so head on over and share what you have made.

One of the first craft projects I pinmarked were these page corner bookmarks. They looked fun and easy and I am always looking for projects for my kids to do. We have made these a couple of times since I found them. My son was the crafter both times and he loved it. The hardest thing about this project is getting the teeth to fit right, don’t forget to leave some room to glue to tape them to the inside. Jake gave them to his friends and heard nothing but praise for how cool they are.

Tally’s pic, from I Could Make That

 If you have really little kids, it’s easy to cut everything out and just let them glue it down. If your kids are a little older, just help with the main body of the envelope. My son is 8 and once the main body is constructed, he likes putting the rest together on his own.

Organizing the Craft Room

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My craft room is in a constant state of needing to be organized. I try to keep the like with the like – the sewing together and by the sewing machine, the bookcase shelves well kept, the kids craft items on the same shelf in the closet. But it is still a mess.

I will say this is the messiest room in my house. It seems to be the catch all room – see the stacks of books? That is from the bookcase in the loft. We cleaned it off so it would be easier to move when we painted…two weeks ago. The loft is put back together but the books haven’t been. It’s been easy to work around them, they’ve actually been restacked twice, but of course they should be back on the bookcase.

The dresser was meant to hold homeschool items but they were shifted to the bookcase in the craft room. I’m honestly not sure what is in there now. And the chair was my Grandpa’s years and years ago, the arm (we think) is at my brother’s or my Mom’s house – Mom said I should throw it away but I don’t want to. Of course it should be used if I’m not going to get rid of it!

Since getting the laptop, no one sits at the desk longer then to print something. We really want a wireless printer, that would eliminate the need to even sit at the desk. But it is a nice desk.

I want to have different sections in the room – a sewing section, homeschool section, etc. I’ve thought about taking the top of the desk off and using the desk as a cutting station or a work station, but haven’t done so. I definitely need to get organized as we may be moving in the next few months. I know it’s smart to start now rather then to rush at the end!

Today starts the 30 Day Organizational Challenge and I signed up for this room. Thirty days is plenty of time to put like with the like, find basket and bins if necessary, purge and get the room put together in a good way. I don’t mind if I end up getting done and moving a couple of months later, I can always use the same ideas later.

PS You entered the giveaway right? I’ll be drawing names the same time as the rest of the participants, which I think is Saturday.

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