Refashion: The Uneven Hemline

Today's refashion started with this dress.

As you can see, it's a little big now. The ragged bottom of the dress happened when I created a toy for the pups (see this post).



I wanted to make a shirt with an asymmetrical hemline. It needed to be short in front and longer in the back. So, I did a big cut on an angle.

Next, I pinned up each side of the dress to take it in a couple of inches.

Then, I sent each side of the dress through the machine. Since the fabric is stretch, I opted for a zigzag stitch.

Next, I trimmed off the excess fabric.

Then it was time to hem the bottom of my new shirt. I folded over the hem by about a half inch and pinned it.

I sent it through the machine to secure my new hem.

Finally, after a quick press with the iron, my new shirt was ready. Not too shabby (or raggy) huh?

Deal Day: What next?

Hi readers. I'm sorry to be so slack, but I don't have a deal for you today. It has been an extremely busy week, and I haven't had a chance to research a good deal to post. So, I will strive to find something extremely awesome for my post next Friday. Until then, here's hoping you find a few more coins (or preferably bills) hiding in your wallet.

Product/Service Review: Oak City Cycling Project

Ok, this review doesn't actually help me be a better domestic, but I feel I should mention this bike shop. As you may know if you follow my fitness exploits, I'm in training for a triathlon. When I started training, I had to get a bike because I didn't own one. An Internet search led me here:

I was looking for a used bike, but I wanted something that was still good quality. I emailed the guys at Oak City Cycling Project and told them about my training. After asking my height, the person helping me thought they might have something that would suit my triathlon purposes. So, I went to the shop and "tried on" a few bikes to find the one that fit me. None of the bikes that were ready were quite right, but they had a Gitane that needed a little work that fit me perfectly. He told me it would be ready in about a week, and that I would get an email to come look at it when it was ready.

True to his word, I received an email in about a week, and I went to take the Gitane on a test spin. After a quick seat adjustment, I was ready for my first ride. Instantly, I was in love with the bike. It was the most comfortable bike I had ever ridden. Seeing as how all my other bikes had been department store or hand-me-downs, I had no idea that bikes could fit so comfortably to an individual. And the fact that it is a nice looking bike didn't hurt either.

As is evidenced by this post, I'm quite pleased with my bike purchase and doubly pleased with the excellent service I received at Oak City Cycling Project. I highly recommend them to anyone in the Raleigh area who is looking to find a great bike at a decent price.

Recipe Review: Rock Cake

In an effort to plan my perfect wedding, I've been thinking about what cake to have. I've gone back and forth between cupcakes and regular cake. But I'm still not quite sure what I want to do. The wedding is less than 2 months away. A decision needs to be made. So, I decided to try a different kind of cake. We are having a stone theme in our wedding, and I found a cool little recipe for rock cakes.

As usual, I didn't want to make the recipe exactly as it is written. Instead of dried fruit and currants, I opted to add a little chopped white chocolate, as that is the way to make my man smile. But that was the only substitution I made. I created the recipe, and the dough is indeed very stiff. It certainly didn't pour like a normal cake batter. Instead, it seemed like a cookie or biscuit batter that I patted out to place on the cookie sheet. But the addition of the baking powder made the little cakes rise nicely. Here are a couple of pictures of my finished rock cakes.

    

These cakes were definitely very cookie and biscuit like. They were sweet and very reminiscent of the Bo-berry biscuits you can get at Bojangles. I actually think they would be perfect for our little offbeat wedding, but I'll get into that more on the wedding blog rather than droning on about it here. Basically, I love this as a little dessert. Since sugar cookies are my favorite type of cookie, this little rock cake is just perfect for me.

Clean Eating: Buffalo Chicken Baked Potato Casserole

I love buffalo chicken. I have been on the hunt for the perfect chicken wing for years. I'm not sure I've found it yet, but I really love indulging in these tasty appetizers whenever I feel like a little splurge. Unfortunately, wings aren't the healthiest options being that they are often fried and the sauce is made with gads of butter. So, I created this dish as an homage to appetizers: tasty chicken wings and delicious potato skins.

Sorry, I failed to get a picture of the ingredients before cooking, but I'm sure you can figure out what all these simple items look like.

Ingredients:
16 oz crumbled ground chicken
1 small onion
2 stalks celery
1 medium carrot
2 medium red bell peppers 
1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt substitute
1/4 cup blue cheese
2 oz light cream cheese
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
6 oz plain nonfat greek yogurt
1 tsp Frank's Buffalo Sauce
1.25 lbs baking potatoes
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.

Place red peppers on pan or foil. Place in oven under broiler and cook until skin is blackened, turning to blacken other side.

Remove from oven and place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let steam. Once pepper have cooled, remove the blackened skin and seed core.

Place peppers in food processor. Add vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp of salt substitute and red pepper flakes to food processor. Pulse grind into a saucy consistency. Put aside.

Slice potatoes into 1/4" slices. Add to a pot and cover with water. Boil over medium-high heat until potatoes are fork tender. Drain potatoes.

Rinse food processor. Cut celery, carrot and onion into chunks and add to food processor. Pulse grind until finely chopped. Put aside.

Add olive oil to large pan. Heat over medium-high heat. Add ground chicken to pan and brown, breaking up with wooden spoon into crumbles. Add pureed carrot, celery and onion mixture to ground chicken. Heat over low heat until mixture is heated through.

Add red pepper sauce to chicken.

Rinse food processor. Add blue cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic powder and hot sauce to food processor. Pulse grind to combine. Add up to 1/4 cup of water to desired consistency.

Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with cooked potato slices and sprinkle remaining 1/2 tsp of salt substitute on top of potatoes. Top with chicken mixture, then spread blue cheese sauce on top.

This picture was taken after I removed from oven and began sectioning portions. Just imagine without the cut marks.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy with a fresh garden salad, or delicious eaten as is.

Nutrition Facts
Serves 4
Serving Size 451.8g
__________________________________________________

Calories - 426
Calories from Fat - 146
Total Fat - 16.2 g
Saturated Fat - 6.2g
Trans Fat - 0g
Cholesterol - 113mg
Sodium - 371mg
Total Carbohydrates - 40g
Dietary Fiber - 5.3g
Sugar - 8.4g
Protein - 31.6g
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Vitamin A - 97%
Vitamin C - 164%
Calcium - 19%
Iron - 10%

Pet Care: Ratty Pinata

I'm always looking for ways to make my ratties lives more exciting. They tend to be a little withdrawn, and they don't much like coming out of their cage. So, when I can find ways to do something to enrich my ratties sheltered lives, I try to take advantage. Tonight, I made my rats a pinata of treats from instructions I found on this site.

 

This is about as far as my ratties will venture outside the cage.

So, to make a ratty pinata, I needed some treats, paper towel, string and a length of tape. I opted for corn and black-eyed peas as the treats for my rats. My rats haven't actually had these as treats, but I've read on the internet that most ratties love them.

First, I spread some corn and black-eyed peas in the middle of the paper towels. I used two paper towels for a little bit of strength.

Next, I bunched the sides of the paper towel up creating a ball at the bottom where all the treats rest. I wrapped the length of tape around the bunched up part of the paper towel at the top to secure it.

Next, I wrapped some string around the taped part, tying it into a secured knot. This string will act as the anchor to hang it in the cage.

Finally, using the long pieces of string, I tied the pinata to the top of the cage. It's still low enough that the rats can reach it when they stand on their back feet, but not so low that it's too easy for them to rip it open.

By the time I went to bed, the ratties still hadn't explored the pinata, but I'm sure it will be a great treat for them when they are ready for it.

Tidying: Kitchen Detail

Hello, readers. I know you've been on the edge of your seat waiting to see what kind of clean up I did for my "Tidying" post this week. Well, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to clean the kitchen. I spend so much time in the kitchen cooking and creating tasty dishes. I was getting tired of having to do my magic in only 12-square inches of space. So, I had to do something to regain control of my kitchen.

I had a little help from one of my cleaning friends.

I really shouldn't like Clorox wipes because they are so hazardous, but I really, really like them. They are so convenient, and I actually feel like maybe they actually get the nasty microscopic gunk off my counters. So, after using a couple of these bad boys, I felt like my kitchen had been revamped. Unfortunately, they couldn't make a dent on the gunk in the refrigerator, but that will have to be for another cleaning day. Although, I did get rid of all the old (and for some, REALLY OLD) leftovers that were in the fridge. I managed to regain a bunch of my storage containers in that endeavor. Don't worry, I don't have any pictures of that to show you. Trust me...you don't want to see what I saw hiding in some of those containers.

So, I'm really happy with my newly cleaned kitchen. At first, I didn't think I would finish, but I managed to get it all tidied up. With Cliff's help, I even managed to get all my new pots and pans up on the pot rack. In celebration, I had dinner with Jade and Cliff at my newly cleaned off kitchen table. It was a meal prepared with some of my new cookware. FYI, the recipe for the delicious dinner will be posted soon. So far, I'm loving my new (insanely sharp) knives and my beautiful, shiny pots.

Here are the before and after pictures.