Food and Crafts

I bought some pho noodles at Aldi a while ago, and thought it high time to use them, after reading about all the takeaway meals Strike and Robin eat in the Robert Gailbraith books that I'm rereading.  I found a noodle casserole recipe, which I doubled for our family.  Unexpectedly, it made so much that it wouldn't all fit into my largest baking dish!  So, I separated it into two portions, and froze the second one (with toppings in a container on top.)



I forgot to take a picture after cooking it up, but it was well received, and now we have a second round ready to go!

Emily's swimsuit bow detached from her skirt cover, and she gave it to me to repair.  This wasn't unusual in and of itself, but she gave it to me wet. children, lol. I got it reattached, then hung it so that it could dry before her final day of swim camp.

My previously repaired skirt had a few new holes that needed attention.  I added a new color, for the new repairs.  If this skirt continues at this rate, I'll have a whole new skirt made out of embroidered scraps!

During our camping trip, my previously repaired jeans ripped in a new spot just above the old repair.  So, I used another round of Sashiko on the new and old holes.  It seemed to be nice and stable on my trip to Oklahoma.

According to their supply list, the twins need some earbuds.  Since earbuds are super similar and tangle so easily, I thought I would try my hand at improving a few pairs that we had in the basement by wrapping them with embroidery thread.  I watched a quick tutorial, and then spent hours wrapping their cords, but they came out too cute!  They don't tangle nearly as easily, and they will be easy to pick out! = )

We seemed to go through a period of uneaten bananas, and I saw a video of someone using puff pastry with Nutella and wrapping up a slice of banana.  I didn't have puff pastry, but I did have some crescent rolls that needed to be used!  They were a big hit. = )

Another viral food video going around was a Brazilian limeade. Emily followed the instructions, and we ended up with an entire pitcher of it!

I thought it was pretty tasty, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to make sure we keep on hand all summer.  I'm really glad she made it though!


I found some cute containers at a rummage sale, so I upgraded my potato and rice flour into their new homes.


Emily made a travel bag for Abby for her birthday.  It came out pretty cute.


Grace found two halves of m&ms in her box and combine them into a whole!


Internet videos have seen us in the kitchen quite often this summer!  Emily found a video on how to combine yoghurt and honey, drip it onto parchment paper and freeze it to make a dippin dots-like treat. 


I didn't try it, but she was unimpressed.


I found an oatmeal cookie recipe to use up some of the old packets of oatmeal that were not being eaten by anyone.  I made two variations: oatmeal raisin & oatmeal chocolate chip.  Everyone gave positive reviews, depending on their preference.  I'm pretty sure only Billy was eating on the oatmeal raisin batch. = )


I attempted to make some cute little spaghetti nests, but possibly went too heavy handed on the sauce, because they did not crisp up like the pictures showed.  I didn't have any, but the ladies at my mom's meeting said they were really good, served with fresh basil and hot dog bun garlic bread!


Juliet and Emily went through an uncrustable phase, where they were eating one each day!  Unsure of whether or not we would use it past that week, I didn't want to spend the $7 on Amazon (and contribute to the production of more plastic goods) so I researched how to make them without a mold. It was not simple, so I never acted upon it. 

But, when I saw a 79 cent apple shaped sandwich press at the thrift store, I snatched it up!  Emily helped me keep them in stock, and now we have a small stash in the freezer.


We've been putting them in used bread bags that I tie off and cut, so that they can throw it away just like the store-bought ones if they pack them for school*. = )

Aldi's price isn't bad (less than a dollar per sandwich) but ours are much cheaper!


Kristy was cleaning out her eggs before their camping trip and gave me 8 dozen!  This in addition to the ones that I already had, made for a very full fridge!!!  I tried to pass along some of the gift, but had no takers.  


So, I cooked with them!

Yorkshire puddings, 


to go with some of the leftover steak that I'd made earlier in the week!  I made three meals out of it!  So good.


Devilled eggs, of course!


Egg noodles,


for a tuna noodle casserole.  I think everyone, except for William, genuinely likes this meal.


Billy's been fighting his 3D printer, first to conduct an experiment,


then to make cute little figures for Grace and Juliet.


William's roblox figure didn't come out quite as well as the girls' but he likes his blox.


He played with printing multiple badges for the robotics team to pass out next year, but his machine wasn't playing nice.  So far, I have two, which is not really enough to pass out. 


As much work as it is, I don't blame him for not wanting to fight it in his free time.  Maybe he'll try again next week with some gentle prompting from yours truly. lol.

Considering I feel like I've been home sparsely this summer, we seem to have completed quite a few projects this summer!  (Though some of these were before the school year ended.)

later days

*Emily is super conscientious though, and will unknot them so that we can get one more use out of the already reused bag. = )

No comments:

Post a Comment