The Carnival is Coming Home

Just a reminder. The Make it from Scratch carnival will be hosted right here next Tuesday! Don't know how to participate? It is easy. Check out the simple as 1-2-3 instructions here. Just remember Sunday is the last day to enter your submission to be included in the next carnival!

Black Bean Chili

I am truly a throw it together kind of cook. Recipes normally serve as guidelines when I cook, not rules to follow to a T. Many of our meals are made without any recipe guideline at all. They are just put together with a little of this and a little of that. This style of cooking has served me well. I am able to cook with what we have on hand, and usually can come up with something that tastes pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

The downside to cooking this way is that nothing I make ever quite turns out the same way each time. My husband once commented to me that he didn't think we'd ever eaten the same thing twice in all the years we've been married. Though a bit of an exaggeration, there definitely is a bit of truth to that statement. When something turns out really well, I often am at a loss to reproduce it.

The weather of late has me craving the comfort foods of winter. One of our family favorites is chili. Nothing warms a body like a steaming bowl of chili served with some homemade cornbread. Last night I pulled out the ingredients we had on hand. There were no red beans, but there were black beans and a can of chopped chilies that I had forgotten were there. Throw it all together in a pot, and the end result was quite delicious, worth repeating. So below is my best estimation of what actually went into that pot.

Carnival #139

This week's carnival is a must see! (Well they all are aren't they? But this one is particularly good.) The carnival has so many wonderful fall ideas from costumes to squash to apples. Head over to Frills in the Hills to check them all out!

Hard to pick favorites this week, but here are a few that I found extra special!

Apple Gingerbread Cake
This looks like an absolutely delicious way to combine two favorite fall flavors. I'm really wishing I had some right now for breakfast!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Moroccan Spices
I love the spice combination in the recipe. I can just smell it cooking now.

15 Rice Quickies
Rice is one of my favorite frugal pantry staples. It is so versatile! Check out these quick and easy rice ideas.

Thanks for joining us this week!

Halloween Fun in a Flash

With less than a week left till Trick or Treaters hit the road there's still plenty of time to put together a fantastic costume and trick or treat bag. Here's some ideas.

• Paint a plain fabric bag or tote with fabric paint using either stencils cut out on freezer paper and ironed onto the plain bag OR use kitchen sponges cut into pumpkin or bat shapes OR make it really easy by just printing Halloween images on iron-on transfers.
  
• Make use of your sports gear and be a "professional athlete". Football, baseball, soccer, or even a basketball player.
• The the artist within come out with a paint stained smock and a french beret hat. Cut out a painter's palette out of cardboard and use markers for the paint spots. Carry a paint brush or tape it to the palette.
• A bathrobe, hair wrapped in a towel, fuzzy slippers and a facial mask turns you tiniest diva into a Spa Princess.
• Use old sheets or pillow cases and become a mummy, ghost, or make super hero masks and capes. Mummy's get wrapped in strips of sheets or toilet tissue. Use felt or whatever you have lying around the house for super hero symbols.
  
• Zombies are really easy. Dress in old play clothes - the more worn the better. Shag up the hair. Paint the hands and face a chalky color with some dark circles around they eyes and shade in with a charcoal color below the cheekbones and neck for a hollowed look. Walk stiffly making loud moaning sounds.
• Use your little one's pretend play toys to complete costumes such as firemen, policeman, handy man, chefs, doctors, etc.
• Rock and Movie Stars are just as easy. Use clothes already in the closet accessorized with fun sunglasses, funky hair paints, feathered boas, costume jewelry and other accessories.
  

Turning your kids into their favorite cartoon characters is really easier than you might think. Wild Man loves Ni Hao Kai Lan. A solid color sweat suit, black felt, head band with hot glued ears made of matching fabric as the main suit, and some easy face painting can easily turn him into Rin Tue the Tiger or Tolee the panda. Same goes for Boots from Dora. Tails can be made of socks, stockings or other materials. Find more great costume ideas here and here.

Make

Safety Reminders

1. Have your child carry a flashlight or have reflective tape on your costumes so motorist can see you. Ideally, do both to ensure their visibility in the dark.
   
2. Don't trick or treat alone. There is safety in numbers.
3. Only visit homes of people you know.
4. Inspect all candy before allowing you child to consume any. Toss anything suspicious and not in original wrappers.
5. Have Fun!

Jenn also blogs about recipes, saving money and other crafts at the Frugal Front Porch.

A sweet little note pad.

Kellie is a tree-hugging wife, mom to three, and late-night crafter. She blogs regularly at Greenhab and the Green Phone Booth.

I bought some of these teeny tiny little composition books during back-to-school time for $0.19 each. I knew I could find something crafty to do with them! These are going to make sweet little stocking stuffers. (Hopefully my mom isn't reading this!)

I started with a tiny comp notebook that was about 3" wide by 4" tall. Perfect size for the purse or car. I found a bunch of fabric sample squares at my local thrift store last month. This piece is 8x8". I used some ribbon so the user can tie it closed, but that isn't necessary. You might want to add some other little decorations to the front.



I cut the front fabric piece a little narrower than the width of the book, to allow the black spine to show, since it coordinated with my fabric. I cut it long enough to wrap around the bottom and create a pocket on the inside for business cards. You can really use your imagination on this and create it as you go!

Here I wrap the fabric around to the inside and press it with my finger so I know where the crease should be, then I removed it from the book and ironed it flat. I hemmed the bottom of the fabric (which would eventually be the top of the inside pocket).

Once that was done, I put the fabric in place and secured it with some binder clips. I did this to avoid the little holes that would be created by the pins I normally use when sewing. The binder clips held the fabric in place for the most part, but you just have to go slowly and make sure the fabric doesn't slide around.







You'll also want to add your ribbon at this point, before sewing. I slid mine in between the inside cover of the book and the pocket. You could sew it onto the outside and cover it up with a cute little button. Or you could use a piece of elastic, sew both ends in there, then use the elastic to wrap all the way around the book. Lots of ideas there!



Using a zig-zag stitch, I sewed all the way around. Then repeat on the back cover. I didn't make a back pocket.

When I got done I decided that the front looked too plain, so I sewed this little piece of canvas on and stamped my mom's name on it. You'll want to do that kind of thing before you sew the fabric onto the book, or you will see the stitching inside. (Lesson learned!)

This was such a quick and fun project. I'd like to do a patchwork version with some tiny little scraps I've been saving. The options are really endless.

Using Leftover Buns

Whenever I buy buns for hamburgers or hotdogs there are always a few left. What to do with them? Often I will throw them in the freezer with the heels and other leftover bread, to use for bread crumbs later.

Other times, if we are having an Italian type meal. I will make garlic bread with leftover buns. The simplest way is to just spread butter on the buns and sprinkle with garlic powder or garlic salt. If I am feeling more creative, I will mix softened butter with garlic powder, Parmesan cheese and other Italian spices like oregano and basil. It is really yummy with a bit of mozzarella cheese too. Stick the buns under the broiler until they are nicely toasted. Be careful they go quickly from not at all toasted to burnt.

Carnival #138

Welcome to Tuesday and the Make it from Scratch carnival! The carnival in its entirety can be found this week at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven. There is a little bit of everything this week. Here are some I found particularly interesting.

Herbed Olive Oil Crackers
Several posts on making your own crackers recently have me very interested in trying this at home!

100 Delicious Dirt-Cheap Recipes for the Starving Students
Though obviously geared toward college students, this list of frugal recipe links would be helpful to anyone trying to keep to a tight food budget. Besides, you gotta love any list that includes 12 different recipes for ramen noodles!

Chocolate Pudding
MMmmmm chocolate.....

Thanks for joining us for the carnival this week.