The Pioneer [Super] Woman

I have a lot to learn about Photoshop and taking photos and making them look nice, but then there are SUPER talented people that post tutorials and help dummies like me make feel a little good about my poor picture taking skills. 

At The Pioneer Woman, they provide free Photoshop actions to help "give your photos a boost".

So here is my attempt to give my photos a little more life to them...

Before:

After: 

I cannot remember what I used exactly and I may have used a combination of all of the above techniques. But I know I will have fun using them in the future!

Life could be so much easier...

Saw this quote on the Facebook the other day and it has had me thinking, a lot... so I quickly made this printable to put up on my quote wall and thought I would share.  

(5 x 7)

and it's SO true and so hard sometimes, right? Sadly, I am guilty of not doing this and have been burned by others who have also not applied this to their lives. Life would be less dramatic if we thought more positively about those we love and BE the best to them, something I am desperately working on.

Have a favorite thought or quote to share that inspires you to be a little better?

Steam Easy

Recipe calls for a can of pumpkin puree but hate the thought of getting your puree from the can? 
Gross, right? Canned vegetables never taste quite right.

I have tried many ways to puree those cute pie pumpkins you get from the store. Boiling or baking in the oven techniques take forever and are messy. Recently I started steaming all my vegetables... it's so quick and easy to steam, I don't know why I haven't tried this sooner! So, I gave my pumpkins a try and threw them in the steamer, and I will never go back to my former methods. There's an added bonus, your house smells like pumpkin and since it's fall, it totally works!

Here's my 2 reasons to steam your veggies...

1. Nutritious - Other methods like boiling, grilling, broiling, frying, and sauteing are not great, because these can strip off the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the vegetables.

2. Flavorful - enough said! If you are going eat the veggies, they NEED to taste good.

**Note, not all vegetables steam equally... Tomatoes would be a poor choice to steam because it has the opposite effect. But stuff like broccoli, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, pumpkin, and etc LOVE to be steamed.

So instead of buying that yucky can of pumpkin puree, steam it! 

Here's how:

• Cut the pumpkin in half with a sharp chef's knife and use a large metal spoon to remove the seeds and stringy innards from the pumpkin halves.

• Chop the pumpkin flesh into squares or slices.

• Set a steamer basket into a large pot and fill the pot with water until the water just touches the bottom of the basket.

• Place the pumpkin in the steamer basket and set the lid on the pot.

• Turn the stove's burner to medium heat and bring the water to a boil.

• Reduce the heat and simmer the water for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin flesh is tender.

• The pumpkin will be soft when cooked. 

• Remove the steamer basket from the pot and let cool.

• Once cooled, remove cooked meat from the pumpkin skin.

• Puree the mixture with a stick blender or potato masher.

• Measure and use in recipe. Freeze excess or be creative and use elsewhere!

Pumpkin puree can be used in a variety of recipes. I will throw it in my kid's oatmeal and pancakes with a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Freeze it and use through out the year if desired! But avoid the carving pumpkins as they have less flesh, more seeds, and barely any flavor compared to the small cooking pumpkins.

What do you like to put pumpkin in?
What's you favorite pumpkin recipe?

Scares and Laughs!

Saw the Ellen's Scares Montage - VERY FUNNY!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! 

Last Minute, NO SEW Witch Costume

I made up this pattern for my daughter and it's SO EASY that I had to share it with you all! AND it requires NO sewing and takes less than 15 minutes to whip up! All you need is stretchy JERSEY fabric or fleece for extra warmth, something to tie around your waist, scissors, and a safety pin or two or three..! :)

Let's start with the cape:
Step one, measure the distance between the shoulder line and the floor, then times that by 2. My daughter has about 30 inches between the top of her shoulder to the floor line, so I doubled that amount and got 60. Step one will give you the length you need to buy for your fabric.

Step two, spread arms apart (like the letter "T") and measure the distance between wrist to wrist. That's how wide the fabric must be in order to drape over her arms.

Step 3, cut lengthwise through the center of the fabric and stop half way.

Step 4, cut long slashed along the outer edge of your fabric and gently tug on the strands to give a stringy look.

C'est Voila! Layer over black clothing and you have your witches cape. From there you can belt it with any rope, cording, belt, or ribbon laying around.

Want to go one step further?
Add a second piece of fabric under this cape. I used the same lengthwise measurement from step one BUT kept the width a little wider than shoulder length - so not nearly as wide as the wrist to wrist length in step 2. With this piece, I cut a hole (more like a slit) wide enough for my daughter's head to fit through along the shoulder line. Safety pin ribbon, rope, or etc to the back waistline to prevent slippage as you tie your your belt across your dress and cape.

I like pinning on the under layer and tying around the bodice with the front of the cape. 

That way, the back of the cape is free and flowy. 

Make sense? Hope so! 

Happy Halloween!

Yummy Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies

Yummy Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies - Try them!

Every Thursday of every week, my daughters and I make something together in the kitchen. I TRY very hard to let them be in charge of the whole process and they LOVE every minute, we have been on a pumpkin kick lately and have been finding new ways to use our sugar pie pumpkins instead of pumpkin in a can (gross!). Two Peas and Their Pod shares a great recipe on their site. This was a great recipe for the kids to hep make and quite simple EXCEPT the "put cookie dough in fridge for 3 days before using". That would have been a little too brutal for my girls and so we baked a few the first day and the rest 3 days later. Baking on the first day would not be my recommendation for future users of the recipe, wait the 3 days - you'll thank me for it! As for the cookies themselves? SUPER YUMMY!

ps - your house will smell fall-ishly divine!

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies

While searching for the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I found Jennifer Wang. I have to admit, I am a little jealous of her awesome SKILLS! She is super smart, studies in Engineering, Science, and Math Education at UC Berkeley. She cooks, makes music, great with kids, and is artistic... if, I didn't know better, this could be my husband's dream girl. She is amazing and on her food tab, there are TONS of yummy recipes she shares. It's a great place that I would LOVE to visit more often. Anyways, while impressed with her background check, I decided to give her cookies a try. They ARE indeed yummy and super easy!

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 cup white
• 1 cup whole wheat
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp. salt

Directions:

• Cream butter and granulated sugar. 
• Add 1 ½ cups pumpkin and 1 egg. 
• Combine 2 cups flour (1 cup white and 1 cup whole wheat). 
• Add 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 ½ tsp. salt to dry mixture. 
• Mix butter mixture and dry mixture together. 
• Stir in chocolate chips. 
• Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.