Peanut Butterfinger Bars

It's my turn to bring a treat for our Bible study group tonight. I decided on a recipe of my mom's that I found in an old church cook book. I didn't have everything required, so I adapted it with what I had in the pantry. Here's the recipe!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal

topping:
1cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg, peanut butter and vanilla and mix well. Sift together the soda, salt and flour and add to mixture. Add the oatmeal and mix well. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Your knife should come out clean when you put it in the middle. When you take them out, sprinkle the chips on top. They will melt a bit, and even after cooling they will stay gooey.

Here's your finished product!

You can take the girl outta Texas...

...But those hurricanes are sure to follow! Last week as a weird one for weather. We experienced our first earthquake and then a few days later Irene came up the East coast. Thankfully, we only had a little damage to our screens and shutters. Here are a few photos of the Little One playing in the water before the worst of the rain hit.

TGIFall

While Texas has the hottest summer on record, it's been a cool 60 degrees here for a few days. The afternoons get a little warmer, but it's beginning to feel a lot like Autumn. I miss my roots, but I am really enjoying the change of season and decided to make some soup to usher in the cooler temperature.

Kale and White Bean Soup:

What you will need
-4 cups of kale
-30 oz white beans (navy or cannellini)
-4 or 5 small tomatoes
-2 cups potatoes
-4 cups of vegetable stock or other broth
-one small onion
-3 tablespoons of garlic, chopped
-salt, pepper, parsley, oregano and basil to taste

Saute your onion and garlic in a little olive oil until softened. Add your kale (washed and chopped without stems) until it is wilted. It's like garlic and will cook down. When it is a bright green, add your chopped tomatoes, potatoes, beans and stock. Bring to a boil and season to taste. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until your potatoes are soft. Ladle up and serve!

What do you know about kale? Until recently I didn't know much. It's a type of cabbage green and it's high in vitamins, beta carotene and calcium. It's relatively cheap, which is why I started buying it. It's a pretty big nutritional bang for your buck and easy to cook. Give it a try!

Wordless Wednesday

Walking Edition:

Granddad

Granddad came to visit this week from Texas. Here are a few photos from this weekend, when WildChild had his first taste of (much watered down) Dr Pepper.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Quilted Bib

I found an adorable tutorial for a quilted bib from Sew She Sews. I did a little tester, since I like to try out a pattern before I make one to give to someone else. Turns out you should REALLY follow the ironing and notching steps. I skipped them because it was late and I was ready to go to bed, but they are really important. Here's my final product:

 Here is an action shot. My Wild Child loves himself some applesauce:

And here is the mess I made in my "sewing area," which is my kitchen during the non-naptime hours.\

What are you sewing these days?

Trashy tutorial

My car is a mess and a half right now. A day of errands usually ends with receipts and gum wrappers and snack bags all over the seats. I decided to make this handy little trash can for my car and with the help of a secret weapon is stays open all the time, for easy one-handed trashing. Here's what you need:

2 pieces of fabric (print and coordinating) for the body

2 pieces of fabric for the straps

1 4"x4" square for your applique

My print fabric measured 10"x10" and my coordinating measured 12"x10" so I could make a little rim. My straps were about a foot long and 3 inches wide.

Pins

Rotary cutter/scissors

WonderUnder (or another fabric fusing material)

Pipe cleaner

The first thing is to make your applique. Follow the directions on the package of WonderUnder and cut out your design. I made a little trashcan, for obvious reasons.

After you cut our your applique, iron it onto the center of your patterned fabric. Then stitch around it using a straight stitch. You can add a little detail, like I did, if you want.

Then you'll want to layer your solid fabric and your patterned fabric wrong sides together. Pin them right down the middle and at the bottom, making a little sack with an opening at the top. You should have about an inch or two of fabric left at the top of your solid fabric - this is for the rim.

Sew your seams. These are just easy cheesy straight lines. It doesn't matter if they are perfect, because you can trim them and you're going to flip the whole thing rightside out when you're finished.

Flip your bag out and pin the extra fabric for your rim over. Iron it so it stays, but don't stitch it down yet. Take your fabric strips for your handles and attach them in the back, under the rim.

Sew a straight stitch across the back of your bag along the rim, securing the straps. You will want to back stitch to make sure that you have a little extra reinforcement. Now you can add the pipe cleaner. This is just sturdy enough that the bag will stay open all the time. Slip it under the front bit of the fabric rim and sew around the front.

And you're done! You can add velcro on the end of your straps and shorten them for a perfect fit, but I left mine long so I can just tie them to the back of the head rest. Trim up your threads and go find an old produce bag and you're on your way to a more tidy car. This is what it looks like when you're all done.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Edition:

Inspiration!

There are so many blogs I love to look to for a little creative jump-start. Over the next few days I'm going to add a sidebar that has a few of my favorites. I'll occasionally feature one in particular because sometimes I come across a craft or a quilt that is just too beautiful  not to share.

I know it's August, but I'm already thinking about Christmas gifts for family and friends. Tracy over at Naptime=Craft time has a cute idea for some travel felt boards that I would like to eventually make for WildChild. They would be great for some of the older kids on my list and you can personalize them however you'd like! Check it out.