The Cat's Pyjamas Blog

Recycling silverware

I've been saving up some silverware that I wanted to make into some jewelry. I've had some of it a while, but found some new forks at the thrift store yesterday. Of course, when I was cleaning out the fridge, I really got the urge to create. LOL! So I took a little break and made this bracelet. Can't wait to make more! This one is listed on etsy. Click the link below to go to the listing.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/97776851/vintage-fork-bracelet-silver-hand-mad?listing_id=97776851&listing_slug=vintage-fork-bracelet-silver-hand-mad

Half price sale!

In honor of Spring...all Spring patterns are HALF PRICE! That includes e-patterns & printed patterns, but hurry because sale will end after the weekend!!

I am dying to get outside and work in the yard, but my Daddy always tells me to wait until after "Blackberry Winter". I listen because he always has the best garden. I usually end up getting more from him than out of my own garden. He always has way too much and I am always happy to take it off his hands, especially the tomatoes for canning!

I apoligize for not keeping up my blog as I should. I have been busy mostly with taking care of my cats! If you read my blog often, you probably know that Mr. Spock has been diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure (or Renal Disease). He was diagnosed almost 3 years ago and the vet said he "might have a couple of good years left". So I didn't expect him to still be with us, but he is still hanging on! A few weeks ago I learned to give him fluids under his skin. I am finally comfortable doing it and he doesn't seem to mind very much now and I can tell he feels a little better. This is an older picture. He has lost weight here (he used to weight over 18 lbs!) but he has lost even more now. I guess that extra weight may have been a blessing in disguise considering he has lost 8½ lbs. As long as he is happy and not in pain, I am happy to keep him here with me. He has been with me almost as long as my husband! We got him a few months after we met, so he has been a part of our family for a long time. I'm not sure of his birthday but he will be 17 some time this year. I think he deserves a lot of my time, so if I'm not blogging much, that may be why!

Bertha Bunny

Since Easter is coming up soon...I've temporarily marked down my pattern for Bertha Bunny to $4.00 for the epattern or $7.50 for the printed pattern. Get the epattern and you could get the pattern today & have a few made up in time for Easter!

http://www.thecatspyjamaspatterns.com/catalog.php?item=735

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecatspyjamaspatterns.com%2Fcatalog.php%3Fcategory%3D18&h=zAQHsNe2h

24 hour sale on all CAT PATTERNS on my website...starts now! Includes printed patterns & e-patterns

Feathers

I found two old feather beds in my studio when we bought it. One was still in good condition, but this one wasn't, so I took the feathers out of it and will use what I can of the fabric. Maybe I will use them one day to make something (feather pillows? Stuff a doll or toy?) I have them for sale on my website if you want to try some out. I am sure they are pretty old....let me know if you have other ideas for them! Click here if you are interested in buying some. If you are local, I'll be glad to meet you somewhere with some. We are back on track working on my studio again. Since the weather has been so nice, we've been replacing trim on the back of the house. Next will be replacing any siding that needs to be replaced, then painting the siding. I can't wait--that will make a big difference! I know we need to work on the outside while we can, but I am really dying to get the inside ready so I can work in the whole house!

Easy Crusty Bread

I found this wonderful looking bread recipe from pinterest and thought I'd try it out. I still like my sourdough bread better, but this one is so easy and doesn't take as much time if you want some bread in a hurry. But I have to say, it is ALMOST as good! I had some with homemade garlic pepper jelly and my husband had some with grape jelly, then he had some for supper so it was almost gone in a day. The recipe came from http://simplysogood.blogspot.com and she makes it with all kinds of stuff baked in it (cheese, dried fruits, herbs, etc). I will defintiely be trying some different combinations, but here is the basic recipe. I made mine in my cast iron pot with a lid and it turned out perfectly. I took mine out 5 minutes early and it was just right, so keep an eye on it the last 15 minutes!

Crusty Bread

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. 

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

I finally did....finally broke down and tried the liquid laundry detergent recipe from the Duggar Family website! I've used about 1/2 gallon so far and I like just as well as the store bought but I LOVE the price! I was clipping coupons, but this is even cheaper than taking time to clip coupons and not much more trouble. I spent $8 on the supplies and it made about 10 gallons. I think the next time I may cut back a little on the water because it was pretty thin. I measured it out into gallon jugs before pouring into liquid laundry detergent bottles I had saved up. That way I could measure exactly & shake well before pouring into bottles. I didn't add any essential oils for fragrance, but I'm thinking I may try some lavender and vanilla some time. I will let you know the amounts when I try it. I tried a recipe for fabric softener and I'm not too thrilled with it, so I am still on the lookout for a good fabric softener recipe. Next on the agenda....homemade dishwasher liquid! Here's the recipe I used for the laundry detergent:

Ingredients:

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing soda
½ Cup Borax

I found all these items at wal-mart in the laundry detergent aisle for less than $8 total. The next time you make soap, all you will have to buy is another bar of soap for about $2. There was plenty of both to make several recipes of this.

Grate the entire bar of soap and add to about 4 cups of hot water on stove. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted. Stir slowly so you won't get a bunch of bubbles!

When the soap has completely dissolved, fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot water. Add melted soap, Super washing soda & Borax. Stir well until everything is mixed. (I used a big wood dowel I had on hand to stir but may get a paint mixer attachment for the drill next time.) Fill bucket almost to the top with more hot water. Stir again, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

The next morning, stir again and fill container half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (this is where I used the gallon milk jug. I measured out 1/2 gallon of water, poured it into the jug, then marked the halfway point with a sharpie. That way I could pour the detergent concentrate to the fill mark, then fill with water.)

If you want,  you can add your favorite essential oil to the containers.

This recipe makes 10 gallons.

To use:

Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

 

Big tree...and a chicken casserole recipe!

I found this awesome tree the day before yesterday and it was almost dark, so went back yesterday and it was even bigger than I thought! Its hard to tell in this photo, guess I need to measure it and see how big it really is! I wonder how old it is? It appears to be dead, so don't know how much longer it will be there....

I'm still eating from the meals I put in the freezer. They are good and I haven't eaten out once since I started this and neither has my husband! He used to go almost every morning for breakfast and coffee and I guess that was the main thing that made me want to do this. I know its not healthy to eat those greasy biscuits every morning. I normally get up with him, but didn't feel like it this morning, but it was easy for him. I had the coffee ready and I just put some french toast from the freezer into the oven wrapped in aluminum foil and got back in bed. Easy enough for me!

The recipe I'm sharing today is one I got from my mother-in-law, but I know a lot of people make it. I made some minor changes and added some broccoli. Frozen peas would be good too, but I think next time I will add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and make it into a "pot pie" casserole!

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

4-6 chicken breasts

11 oz. can cream of chicken soup

8 oz. Light sour cream

1 roll Ritz crackers

Butter flavored Pam

1 sleeve Ritz crackers

   1/2 package frozen broccoli

Boil chicken until done. Drain chicken and reserve 1 c. broth, cool & tear into bite size pieces. Mix the broth & sour cream. Layer chicken on bottom of the casserole dish, cover with about 1/2 pkg. of frozen broccoli, then pour the broth mixutre over the top. Crush crackers, sprinkle on top and spray with butter flavored cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Note: I made 2 of these for me & my husband and split them into 4 small casserole dishes. (I bought them at Wal-mart--they have lids on them, so you can cover with parchment paper then with aluminum foil before putting the lid back on.) Thaw in the refrigerator and cook as above after thawing. I have been getting them out the night before, but 2 days would be even better because they are still somewhat frozen after a day.

Plan to make several chicken dishes at once to save time---boil a bunch of chicken and use it for different recipes. I will be posting more of my favorites as I test them out in the freezer!

Another tip--right now I don't have enough of those small casserole dishes to store everything in them. So I line the pan with some pan lining paper (parchment on one side, aluminum foil on the other) with the parchment paper on the inside. After freezing, I wrap again with aluminum foil and store in freezer bags. When ready to thaw, I take it out of the bag and put it back in the casserole dish.

Homemade frozen pizzas

Like I mentioned, I have been filling my freezer. I am trying to:

1.) Save money by not eating out and going to to grocery store as much

2.) Eat healthier

3.) Save time by not having to cook every night

So far, things are going well! It is so easy to buy those cheap little frozen pizzas for when you are starving and in a hurry, but they are so greasy and full of calories & sodium! So that was one of my first "freezer projects".  First, I made 2 recipes of pizza dough. (Find the recipe for the dough here.) This dough is easy to make, freezes well and tastes so good! I save a couple of dough balls for the freezer for making a bigger pizza for dinner. The rest I cut into smaller portions to make smaller 1 serving pizzas. After letting the dough rise as directed, I made them into small pizzas and cooked in the oven about 5 minutes. After cooling a bit, I added store bought pizza sauce (maybe the next time I will make my own sauce too!), toppings & cheeses. I tried a few different version (spinach, pepperoni, veggie...). After topping them, I wrapped in parchment paper, then aluminum foil and put them all in ziploc gallon freezer bags. (I can get 3 or 4 in a bag.) Both I & my husband have enjoyed them and they are so much better and better FOR you than the ones from the store! You can cook them frozen, but I recommend removing them from the freezer a little while before cooking. Let me know if you try these and how you like them!

I'm still taking my sunset photos....I liked this one from yesterday. I took these at the boat ramp, so there were boats coming in as I was there and I caught one in the photo. It ALMOST makes me want to go out on a boat....almost!

Make Ahead meals

Ever since I saw this photo of someone's freezer on joelens.blogspot.com, I have been wanting to make some meals and fill my freezer! So I finally made preparations & did it this week! For 3 nights, I cooked extra and prepared it for the freezer. On the first night I cooked a whole bunch of chicken and made chicken enchiladas. That was enough for our supper and 3 dishes for the freezer. I also had enough to make 3 chicken & broccoli casseroles and some chicken left over for my kitty, Mr. Spock. On the 2nd night I cooked a lot of ground beef & turkey and made spaghetti for supper. I had enough left for 2 servings for lunches, 3 dishes of lasagne and several containers of baked beans. Tonight I made homemade pizza dough and we had pizza for supper, so I have 2 crusts to make pizza later, plus I made 7 small pizzas for lunches so we won't have to buy those yucky, greasy frozen pizza for when we are in a hurry. I also made "Aunt Shirley's baked beans" in the crock pot and they are a whole meal with cornbread. I did a few other things, so now I am hoping I can be set to not go to the store for a month except for things to fill in (milk, bread, fresh veggies). I even have several breakfasts in there because I hate getting up early to cook! I will try to get some of my recipes and let you know how they turn out after being frozen. I finished all my cooking tonight, so should be able to use up the food for about 3 more weeks and take it easy and hopefully concentrate on creating now!

We've had a new kitty hanging around for a couple of weeks. I was hoping to find him a home on my own, but my kitties outside were so upset by having him here. Monday I took him to a local no-kill shelter. I was sad to take him, but I know he will find a good home. All his tests were negative, so he is ready to be neutered and start looking for his new home! I wish I could keep them all, but at 13, I am pretty full here. They can get expensive and I want to be able to take good care of the ones I have now. Maybe someday when I am rich and don't have to work.....I am still waiting for that day though!!