Green chili chicken enchiLasagna of death

No, I'm not usually a food blogger, heck who can remember to take pictures of each step along the way, but my sister and I were discussing the possibility of this dish, and she told me to post it here, because this is where I do my blogging.  So enjoy.

I got to thinking about freezer meals (I belong to a once month freezer meal group), and wondered if it were possible to combine some of my favorite meals.  So incorporating three of my favorite comfort foods, Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, Lasagna and Mormon Funeral Potatoes, at least  aspects of each one, this is what I came up with.

Green Chili Chicken EnchiLasagna of Death

The Cast of characters:
9 Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)
1 can mild green chili enchilada sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 can mild green chilies
1/2 c chicken broth
1 c shredded cheese
pepper jack cheese slices
1 1/2 c shredded chicken
1 green bell pepper

Chop bell pepper, shred chicken.  Mix soup, sauce, sour cream, green chilies with a whisk.  thin with chicken broth.  Mix 1 c shredded cheese into sauce.

Start by putting 1/2 c sauce into the bottom of a glass casserole dish.  Top with 3 lasagna noodles, rinsed (Really.  Just turn on the water and get the noodles wet)  Lay noodles on top of sauce.  Top with more sauce, 1/3 shredded chicken, 1/3 of the bell pepper and 3 slices of pepper jack cheese.  Repeat.  Don't forget to rinse your dry pasta.  Continue until you have 3 layers in your pan.  Finish with shredded cheese.  Now the tricky part...Add 1/2 cup of water to your dish.  Really.  Just pour the water along the edges of your pan.   Cover with foil and freeze.  Or preheat oven to 375, bake for 1 hour.  Remove foil last 20 minutes.  Let sit 20 minutes before serving.  

All this creamy saucy slightly spicy deliciousness in one dish.. and it tastes even better the next day

This is great for a freezer meal.  Just defrost completely and then bake as directed...

More Patches for the Letter Jacket

For the well dressed LDS Letterman in your life:  Another "LDS kids will understand this" patch.  I love the fact that the jacket is a personal billboard, and there are no jacket police who dictate what you can and can't put on your jacket.  I got a request form a young lady who wanted to put Moroni on her sleeve, and this is what we decided on.  What an awesome idea!

The school colors are black and red with some white. So in keeping with the theme, I opted for a black background on a layer of red.

Close up of the Moroni patch.

Kudos to this sweet young person who wants a daily reminder of who she is and what she believes in.

Shipping (domestic) is included in the price of the patch.  

For local peeps, I will also attach the patch to the jacket for a nominal fee.

contact me directly threadnbutter@gmail.com

Variation on a Theme...

I received a request for another CTR patch for a letterman jacket, this time in Black and Gold. And then another request for Red on White.   I think it turned out pretty sharp.  

I was asked to design a patch for a letterman jacket that represented achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.  I was so thrilled to do this, and very sad that I hand't thought about it when my own scouts were in high school.  Oh well!  The year in the middle of the patch is when the award was earned.

The Prom

 The dress is complete, the hair is styled.

 Matching bow tie

 waiting for her date to arrive

Trying something new

My skill set is with the sewing machine and thread.  My oldest daughter is a very talented with yarn, but me, not so much. But sometimes a gal just has to pull out the crochet hook!  Twice a year my church holds general conference.   It is a fabulous two days of listening to the prophet and leaders of the church.  I LOOOOOOVE General Conference. I have eight hours over two days to listen and learn.  I have found that if I keep my hands busy with some fiber arts, I listen a lot better.  Makes no sense I know, but if I have yarn in my lap, I am hearing everything.  So in October and in April, I will pick up my hook.  My youngest is going off to college in a few short weeks.  She is going where there will be snow and cold, it will shock her poor little Texas body, so this time I decided to try my hand at a hat.
I am not a big yarn fan, so this is actually a repurposed t-shirt. I cut the t-shirt into 1 inch strips, connected all of my ends, pulled them tight and rolled the ball.  I then used a size N crochet hook. That was a first for me using one so big.  I'm thinking the cap turned out fine, considering I had no idea what I was doing, and just kind of made it up as I went along.  Oh yeah, I must have started over 4 times, so the pulled jersey is very forgiving.  The hat reminds me of a 1920's flapper.
Chances are this will end up in a drawer, or on the floor of her closet, but for a few minutes, I believe she will actually wear it!

The next prom dress redo

Ignore the track tan... I needed a real body as a model!

Another prom dress makeover.   This one was a little different, it not only was strapless, but had a big gap in the back also.  
So the solution was as follows:   I took some of the very full underskirt and made it a straighter skirt.  Using the cut off fabric, I pleated a piece of fabric that almost matched the pleats on the bodice.  I then used a piece of cotton underneath, sewing the pleats down fabric to facing.  The back shoulders were made the same, without the pleats.    I secured the pleats with hand sewing.  I used a basic wedge shape for the front and the back shoulder pieces.  


As for the open area in the back, I simply made a "boob tube" using the rest of the satin and flesh colored swim suit lining.  It is worn underneath the dress.

Prom 2012, modest remodel

Once again, we have found that prom dress designers do not make dresses that are not sleeveless or backless.  Is there a shortage of fabric in America?  What is the deal with dressing our daughters in a little fabric as possible??  Regardless, my sweet child spent all of 20 minutes shopping for her prom dress. Bless her heart, she is a girl who takes after her mother in the shopping department.  Ok, she actually gave it 10 minutes more that I was comfortable with.  Oh well!   So this is what happens when you add a shoulder seam and a double cross over cap sleeve.  I think it's going to work!

Dang those are blurry pictures!  I promise good ones on the night of the actual dance!

Three very happy ladies.  indulging in some shopping and project choosing.  It's quilt show time!

Wild Things

I had a request for a job a few weeks ago.  It was a job that needed to be done quickly, as she had an event that the aprons were needed for.  Her business is a custom designed scrapbooking thingie (I work in fabric, not paper, so it's out of my element).  The customer was wanting her logo to be appliquéd in animal prints and embroider her logo on a denim apron.  

Checking out the spacing

Example of the animal prints

The finished Apron

Close up of the ruffle on the pocket top

The Happy customer

 The appliqué turned out very clean and I really like the way the animal prints pop on the blue.  The ruffle was a little added to touch that appeases the girly-girl that lives inside this sharp woman.

I'm excited to do more applique, it's like coloring, except I get to use fabric instead of crayons.    

Me, Quilt Designer!

So I had this idea

I have become "that" woman, you know, the one you see at Walmart with the state flag of Texas on her purse.  And dangling from the holes in her ears.  I don't know how that happened.  I remember when we moved to Texas, I asked my new neighbor, who happened to be a native Texan what it was with everyone from Texas, do they really believe they are superior to those who live in the other 49 states??

She just looked at me and said "yes".  I remember rolling my eyes.

figuring out how it was going to work...

Fast forward 17 short years, and here I am, using the state flag of Texas as home decor.  Do people in other states decorate with their flag?  Or is it because Texas state flag is so awesome?? I mean I have never seen a "Utah" room, (Although I have seen an "Arizona" room, but I'm pretty sure that is code for indoor porch type room).  

choosing my fabrics

  I truly have been obsessing with this idea for months now.  I can't explain it, I just have a NEED to make a quilt with the Texas flag on  it.  And eat fine mexican food.  Which ironically enough is not necessarily found in Texas...personally my favorite mexican food is Sonoran style, made famous in Tucson Arizona.  Oh dang, I am distracted....

Cutting all my fabric into 2.5 x 6 inch strips.  24 of each

I decided to make a "quilt as you go" style quilt.  The thing is I have a fabulous embroidery machine, and I have absolutely no need to be fulfilled as a seamstress by hand quilting anything, so I designed this to be made with the embroidery machine, and then assembled with the sewing machine.

After the strips were ready, I assembled each square into a "split rail" design, being sure to rotate where each fabric landed in the squares (also know as OCD sewing)

This whole project just pops when pressing each step of the way.  I love how crisp it looks when pressed correctly.

the tools of the trade...

So now I have all my rail fence squares done, they measure 6 x 6.  I cut my backing pieces 8 x 10 so I had enough room to use the fast frames.

finding the center of my backing

 

using the fold and finger press method, I folded my pieces in half, both directions

then I used the marking pen to mark the center of the inside of the backing

now i'll be able to place my needle of the embroidery machine right where it needs to be

using the binder clips, attach to the fast frame.

the first thing to run on the embroidery machine is an outline stitch.  This is the size of my square after all the trimming and folding is complete.   So it's right at 6 inches.

Place the cut batting on top of the outline

place the split rail square on top of the batting

using my own stippling design, I made this stinkin' cute block.  Look close, it's a star and stripes design.
On the actual quilt, the stripes change directions every other square.

This is easier to see the stipple design.  

The finished quilt

close of of all 3 colors... notice the change of direction in the strips...very OCD

the star was made by using a freezer paper appliqué, attached with a blanket stitch.

another closeup

Momma always did say to sign your work....

How to embarrass your teenage daughter without hardly trying

the pioneer girl

I think her shoes are different from each other!