WW Top Meals 1

I'm going to start posting pictures of my food, so I remember what to eat when I inevitably get off track again. I made this delicious omelet today, and I definitely plan on revisiting it at some point in the very near future. 

6 Points

2 point Omelet:

2 eggs

Spinach

Tomatoes

1/4 Goat Cheese

Basil

1 point Bacon

3 slices Canadian Bacon

3 point Bread

1 slice Multigrain Bread

The Cinnamon Buns You Only Make for Besties

The first time I made cinnamon buns, they were for a dear friend who was not eating dairy or soy while breastfeeding her baby, and I found this wonderful recipe. Over time, I have adapted the recipe, added dairy back into the mix, and made them my own, but it is still very similar. They are delicious with blueberries, like in the dairy-free recipe, but I prefer them the traditional way. Here you go! 

Ingredients:

1 C milk, heated to 100° in the microwave

2 1/4 tsp (0.25oz) active dry yeast

1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce

2 1/2 C flour (plus extra for kneading)

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 C brown sugar

1 1/2  Tbsp ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp melted butter

2 Tbsp cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 C confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. Scatter yeast over warmed milk and allow to activate for about 10 minutes, or until foamy.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, and melted butter. Set aside for the filling. 

4. When yeast mixture is foamy, stir in applesauce. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. 

5. Transfer dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead until soft and smooth (2-3 minutes), adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

6. On lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. 

7. Spread the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter mixture evenly over the rolled out dough, leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the perimeter. 

8. Carefully and tightly roll the dough with both hands, being careful not to lose any filling. 

9. Cut the dough evenly into pieces about 3 inches wide (should make about 8 buns). 

10. Place buns rolled side up into a greased 9x9 baking dish. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, dry place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. 

11. Preheat oven to 350°. 

12. Bake rolls for about 25 minutes, until they are golden brown. 

13. While the rolls are baking, prepare the icing by whipping together the softened cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and confectioners sugar. 

14. Pour the icing evenly over the rolls once they come out of the oven and enjoy!

Best Butternut Squash Soup

I love butternut squash. It's delicious and my absolute favorite type of soup. I've tried a lot of recipes and, while not terrible, none of them have been perfect. So, today I made my perfect Butternut Squash Soup recipe. It's so simple! Here it goes:

You will need:

1 medium butternut squash
1 large sweet potato
1 Tbsp sage, chopped
1-2 C unsweetened coconut milk
a pinch of allspice
Salt & Pepper to taste


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425

Cut the squash in half longways and scoop the seeds out.
Peel sweet potato and cut in half .
Sprinkle them both with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast them cut side up until they are slightly soft.

If you want to roast the seeds, now is a good time to separate the seeds from the stringy squash. Rinse them off and dry them. Then, sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and set aside until the oven is free.

When the sweet potato and squash have softened up, take them out and let them cool for a bit. Once you can do it without burning your fingerprints off, cut them into 1 inch cubes. Put the squash, sweet potato, sage, and about 1 cup of coconut milk into a big pot and let it simmer until all of the flavors come together, about 15 minutes.

If you have an immersion blender, use it to puree the soup. If not, scoop it into a regular blender and puree. Move it back into the pot. If the soup seems thick, add more coconut milk until you get it to your desired consistency. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and simmer for a few more minutes until combined.

If you have toasted squash seeds at this point, you can sprinkle them on top of the soup for a nice touch.

Enjoy!

Tee to Dress in 10 Easy Steps

In this tutorial, we will transform a basic T-shirt into a twirly, comfy, adorable dress. I used a size XL men's tee, and made a size XS girls dress.



Before & After






What you will need:
XL or larger T-shirt
1 sheet of regular 8x11 size paper to make bodice pattern
thread
scissors
sewing machine

So, for the bodice, I kind of just eyed it, but we can try to figure out an exact measurement here.

Take a piece of paper, (I used construction paper, but whatever you have handy works, as long as it's standard letter size.) and fold it in half horizontally, like a greeting card.



This is what it needs to look like. If you feel like you can free hand it, go for it! Otherwise, measure 8 inches up and 3 inches over and make a mark there. Then, measure 7 inches up and 5 inches over and make another mark. Now, 7 inches up, from the left hand side, draw a slightly curved line to your first mark. Next, draw a straight line to your next mark. Last, bring your line down to the right hand edge of the paper about 2 and half inches up.
Starting to look like a bodice? If not, this pattern is tried and true: http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/child-summer-frock





Let's get started!

Step 1: 

Turn your shirt inside out. I did not do this in the photos, but it would have saved me a little trouble if I had.

Lay your t-shirt flat and cut 14" up from the bottom. I used pinking shears to try to prevent the fabric from rolling, but regular scissors will do the trick.

 


This will be the skirt, and this is what it should look like:





Step 2:

Fold your strip of fabric in half along the long side, making sure the edges are even.








































Line your bodice pattern up along the top left hand side of your folded skirt, and make a mark on the skirt where the pattern ends.




Next, you're going to draw a straight line from the mark you made at the top of the skirt to the bottom, slightly above the pre-sewn bottom hem.








Cut along the line.





Step 3: 

It's time to start sewing! I'm using white thread so that you can see what I'm doing, but it would be best to use a matching thread color. Unfold the newly cut skirt piece and sew together the sides, making sure your shirt is inside out. Use a zigzag stitch, reversing on each end to secure it. Leave a 1/2 inch seam allowance.







Once your skirt is sewn together, set it aside. We will come back to it after we create the bodice.


Step 4: 

Okay, I am going to preface this by saying it would have been MUCH easier if I had used the readily available, perfectly constructed collar that the shirt already has, but I wanted to keep the Superman logo for the dress, so I made my own collar. You should feel free to cut your bodice along the t-shirt collar to make it exponentially easier for yourself.

Take the top part of the t-shirt and fold it in half. Make sure it is inside out. Then, line up the bodice pattern on the t-shirt. I lined mine up on the bottom where it was already cut, but it would be fine to line it up to the collar at the top.






Trace the pattern and cut it out. This is what it should look like (unless you are using the premade collar in which case it will look slightly neater than this):




Sew together the sides, making sure your project is inside out. Notice the area that is sewn in this picture, ignore the pins for now.





Step 5: 

You can skip this step if you are using the premade collar. Here, we will pin and sew the collar. Starting from the center, carefully fold the collar down about a half an inch, then over again and pin. Then working your way up on each side, fold it over, over again, and pin. Continue until you reach the top. After you have it pinned, sew along the collar with a straight stitch and repeat on the other side.

 






Step 6: 

Making sure the collar is lined up, sew together the top straps.




Step 7: 

Let's cut out the sleeves. Lay the remainder of the original t-shirt flat, folded in half so that both sleeves are stacked, and place the bodice you just put together on top of it. Line the top strap up with the top of the t-shirt sleeve. Draw a line from the top strap, down the armhole to the side of the bodice, then over to the end of the sleeve. It's sort of hard to see in the picture, but I hope you can figure out what I mean.




Cut out the sleeves that we drew. This is how they should look:





Step 8: 

Sew the sides of the sleeves using a zigzag stitch, making sure they are inside out.







Here is the tricky part. Turn the sleeves right side out. With right sides together, so the bodice is inside out and the sleeves are right side out (this is important), stuff the sleeve that we just made into the sleeve hole in the bodice, lining up the seems. Pin together first at the seem, then around the rest of the way.



Sew around the sleeve using a zigzag stitch. Repeat on both sides.








Step 9: 

Finally, we will attach the skirt to the bodice. With right sides together, put the skirt inside of the bodice and line up the raw edges. Pin the bodice and skirt together starting at the seems. Then, sew around the opening.










Step 10: 

Press the seem that attaches the skirt to the bodice down, and turn the dress right side out. Put it on your favorite little one and get ready for hours of twirling fun!




























I hope you like this tutorial! Please comment with any questions you might come up with.