savoy062

Honey glazed tarragon chicken is a great meal to have stocked in your freezer for a quick and easy meal.  In just about the time it takes to warm through, dinner is ready.  You can serve this chicken and gravy over rice or noodles or for an even quicker and easier meal, over toasted bread for a hot open face sandwich.  Add a side vegetable (you always have frozen veggies on hand, right?) and dinner is served! Honey Glazed Tarragon Chicken The recipe below makes 4 servings but its easy to make up a big batch for the freezer. 1 pound bone-in chicken breast, skin removed 1 tsp dried tarragon leaves or 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon 1 tsp chicken base or 1 chicken bullion cube 1/4 cup honey 3 tbsp flour 1 cup water Salt and pepper to taste Season the chicken with salt, pepper and tarragon and cook the chicken until done.  You can bake the chicken in a covered baking dish or you can use a pressure cooker.  Follow all the manufacturers directions when using a pressure cooker.  Once the chicke

Its been snowing nearly everyday and everyone is sick of the winter weather.  Soon enough spring will arrive and all the flowers will be blooming.  If you can't wait for the real flowers, the cheerful daisy on this bonnet may help.  I made this bonnet in the bright funky colors of a gerbera daisy but you could make the petals white for the classic shasta daisy. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you.  This pattern fits on my large 6 month old but for an average size baby I would say this is a size 9-12 months.  Using a smaller crochet hook will result in a smaller bonnet. The materials needed are about 2 ounces of main color worsted weight yarn, scraps yarn for the flower center and petals, a size H crochet hook, a blunt tapestry needle for weaving in ends and scissors. To make the flower center: Foundation : ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook to form a ring Round 1: ch 3, 7 dc into the ring, sl st to top of b

This pattern makes tetracuspid hypocycloids.  Ah, What?!  You know the little star-like symbols on the Pittsburgh Steelers logo?  Those are tetracuspids hypocycloids, also known as astroids, also known as paracycles, also known as those little colored stars on the Pittsburgh Steelers logo.  There is even a mathematical calculation to that funny little shape.  Alas, you are not here for me to explain mathematics, you are here for crochet patterns. This pattern can used to make appliques to add to another project but what I have in mind is for these to be a set of coasters.  I made these in the Pittsburgh Steelers logo colors but these could be made in any color.  You need something to set your Yuengling down on when you are watching football, right? This pattern uses US crochet terms.  I used worsted weight yarn and size G crochet hook.   If you have any questions about this pattern, leave me a comment and I will do my best to help. Tetracuspid Hypocycloid Pattern For this pattern clus

Looking for a crocheted bass clef pattern?  Look no further.  This pattern uses US crochet terms.  I used worsted weight yarn and size G crochet hook. ch 2 , turn, 8 sc in 2nd ch from hook ch 11, turn skip 1st chain from hook, sl st in next 4 ch, 1 sc in next ch, 2 sc in next ch, 2 hdc in next 4 ch, sl st to join disc made in step 1. weave in ends. for the spots ch 2 turn 4 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sl st to first sc to join. weave in ends or use them to attach the spots to your finished project. enjoy. Are you looking for a pattern for something specific?  I'm always open to requests.  Leave me a comment and I will see what I can whip up!

Make this coaster in green for a St Patrick's day leprechaun hat or make it in black for a pilgrim hat for thanksgiving.  This pattern uses only single crochet and chain but because the band and buckle are done in tapestry crochet I would say this is an advanced beginner pattern. Tapestry crochet is done by carrying 2 or more colors of yarn along the work as you go.  You pick up and drop the yarn you need but the stitch is only made in one color at a time.  It can easily become a tangled mess so I suggest using small segments of each color. To get a nice clean design you have to keep an even tension which can be hard when you are switching between colors.  It can take some practice.  Tapestry crochet can be very detailed but the tapestry crochet in this pattern is very minor.  It would be a good project for anyone new to tapestry crochet. When switching colors its best to yarn over and pull through with the new color on the stitch before the color change.  It's also best if you

I have another coaster pattern.  This one was made in buff colored yarn and the design sort of reminds me of a sand dollar.  As much as I love multi-colored motif coasters, using 1 color means the stitches themselves take center stage.  It also means less ends to weave in at the end. :) This pattern uses US crochet terms.  I used worsted weight cotton yarn and a size H hook but a similar sized hook can be used. If you have any questions about this pattern, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out. Ch 3, sl st into 3rd ch from hook to form a ring ch 1, 11 hdc in ring, sl st into first hdc to join ch 2, 2dc in same st, *skip 1 st, 3dc in next st, repeat from * 4 more times, sl st into beginning dc to join sl st in next dc, sl st into space between clusters, ch 2, 2hdc in same space, *1 hdc in each of the next 2 dc, 3 hdc in space between clusters, repeat from * 4 more times, 1 hdc in each of the next 2 sl st, sl st into beginning hdc to join *ch 6, skip 4 hdc, 1 sc

I love dirty rice. It's a true comfort food. Warm and spicy, perfect on these cold winter days. When you have the time, there is nothing better than a simmering pot on the stove filling your house with the delicious aroma.  Make a double or triple batch and freeze it for when time is short. You can freeze this once its completely finished for a heat & eat meal or stop just before adding the rice. Then you when you are ready to eat just add the rice and a cup of water to the prepared base and simmer until the rice is done. This is the kind of recipe that works great for batch cooking.  The peppers, onion and celery give this dish a rich flavor but it takes some time to chop all those vegetables. You can chop the vegetables for three batches in just about the same amount of time as for one batch. The simmering takes some times too. So you might as well simmer 3 batches all at once. In the end you have dinner for tonight and 2 in the freezer for later. Ingredients (4 serv

This no bake peanut butter pie is incredibly easy.  Dangerously easy.  There is little keeping you from making it three times a week.  It's rich, creamy and oh so peanut buttery.  Oh yes, you need this in your life. This recipe uses tofu.  It may surprise you but soft and silken tofu are used in lots of desserts and smoothies.  Tofu on its own doesn't taste like much of anything, all you taste is the peanut butter. It's becoming easier to find tofu.  It is sold in nearly all supermarkets.  Tofu usually comes in blocks packed in water.  Sometimes soft tofu comes in a plastic tube.  Either will work but be sure to drain the tofu if it's packed in water.  Most often tofu is labeled as extra firm, firm, soft, or silken.  Soft or silken is what you want for this recipe. I made the crust following the Oreo Crust Recipe from Oreo's website but I replaced the butter in the recipe with dairy free margarine.  You may use a store bought cookie crumb crust but be sure to check

Are you looking for a great tomato soup recipe?  This rich and creamy tomato butternut squash soup really hits the spot!  Make a large batch and stock up your freezer. Ingredients:  1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed 2 (28 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes 1 quart of chicken or vegetable stock ** 2 fresh sage leaves or 1/2 tsp dried sage Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and simmer 25-30 minutes until the squash is tender.  Puree with an immersion blender or in a blender until smooth.  Serve with garlic bread. **Store bought chicken stocks and broths often have dairy ingredients.  Use homemade stock or check the label carefully.

Food in the freezer is an investment.  You put the time, effort and money into making your freezer meals and you want to protect that investment.  Some things are perfectly fine stored in reused yogurt containers but other things do best in freezer bags or vacuum sealed bags.  Lets look as all the ways you can store your freezer cooking  No Container Storing food in the freezer without any wrapping or container not recommended.  Foods can dry out, absorb odors and become freezer burnt.  Flash freezing can be done without any covering but you will want to be sure to transfer the food to an appropriate container as soon as its becomes firm.  You can flash freeze by placing the food on a silicone mat lined cookie sheet or in ice cube trays. Freezer Paper, Aluminum foil Freezer paper or aluminum foil usually won't provide much protection but they work well when you want to individually wrap items or keep items separated.  A small square of freezer paper between hamburger patties will k

Freezer cooking is an umbrella term to mean any meal prep done ahead of time and frozen.  There are different ways to freezer cook and there are pro and cons of each.  Let's look closer at each style to see which might be the best fit for you. Once A Month Cooking Once a month cooking (OAMC) is preparing or mostly preparing an entire months worth of meals in one day.  The cooking day is usually very long, must be thoroughly organized and works best if you have helpers.  Most OAMC recipes are not actually cooked on cooking day but prepared and portioned out for quick cooking when they are needed. Batch Cooking Batch cooking is when you make a double, triple or even quadruple batch of a recipe.  This can be a large scale or small scale process.  Making a big pot of soup and freezing portions is an excellent way to ease into freezer cooking.   Bulk Cooking Bulk cooking is when you make large portions of meal components.  Roast several chickens and use the meat for chicken salad, chick

It goes by many different names; bulk cooking, batch cooking, once a month cooking (OAMC), or freezer cooking. They have slight variations but the basic concept is doing meal prep ahead of time to make dinner time less hectic. Freezer cooking has helped me during so many stages of my life. I have dietary restrictions which makes it hard to eat at restaurants, or use convenience foods or prepared foods. I have to read every ingredient, grill the wait staff, and hope there was no cross contamination. I only truly feel comfortable eating food I have prepared myself. Good thing for me, I love to cook! Like everyone else, my life gets busy and setting aside an hour each evening to prepare a wholesome meal can be hard. Freezer cooking helped when I was single and cooking for one, when I was in school and limited by the options in the cafeteria, when I was working 12 hour days, and when I had a baby. I have learned a lot over the years and I want to share my knowledge with you. Befor

This motif pattern has a sweet flower center.  Made up in cotton yarn, this beautiful motif becomes a coaster.  I made this one from blues and purple but any combination would look great.  You could make this pattern in a single color as well.  Make a single pattern or check out my other motif coasters ( Clover Motif & Starburst Motif ) to make a set. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to help you out. This motif uses scraps of worsted weight yarn and a size g crochet hook.  You can use any similar size of crochet hook.  You will also need a blunt tapestry needle to hide your ends. Posey Motif/Coaster Ch 3, sl in in 3rd ch from hook to form a ring *Ch 4, sc in ring, repeat from * 4 more times ch 1*5sc in next ch 4 space, repeat from * 4 more times, sl st in beginning ch to join, fasten off Join color B to first sc of any loop from previous row, ch 1,*1 sc in next 5 st, ch 3, repeat from * 4 mo

I have another crochet motif pattern for you.  Work these motifs in cotton yarn and they make excellent coasters or add a ornament hook or a loop of yarn and you have a festive holiday ornament.  I made this in shades of green to highlight the center 4 leaf clover design but it would look great in any color combination. Clover Coaster  This pattern uses US crochet terms.  Ch = chain; sc = single crochet; dc = double crochet; hdc = half double crochet; sl st = slip stitch;  If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to help you. I used scraps of worsted weight cotton yarn and a size g crochet hook.  Any similar sized hook can be used. Clover Coaster With color A: ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook to form ring  *ch 4, sc in ring, repeat from * 3 more times  ch 1 *5 sc in ch 4 space, repeat from *3 more times, sl st in beginning ch 1 to join, fasten off Join color B in 3rd sc of any 5 sc segment, ch 1, 2 hdc in same st, *1 hdc in each of the next 4 sc,

Here are some more of my most recent snack boxes :) Persimmon, Swiss cheese, cucumber, radish and hazelnuts Cake, Ritz cracker, celery and cucumber, persimmon oatmeal cookie, dried pineapple, Swiss cheese, carrots, and celery Swiss cheese, carrots and celery, persimmon, granola bar, almonds cucumber and radish slices, banana peanut butter roll ups, pecans, peanut butter fudge, goldfish I make these snack boxes once a week, usually Fridays, to add to my husband's lunch.  Its a nice treat and they are fun to make.  Be on the lookout for tips and tutorials in the coming weeks if you would like to learn how to make snack boxes like these. Click here to see more of my snack boxes

After a little tweaking I came up with a perfect whole wheat soft pretzel recipe.  These pretzels are soft and chewy, slightly sweet and completely delicious.  They are awesome served warm with spicy brown mustard. I based the recipe on Alton Brown's recipe  but I needed to make it dairy free and I wanted to make it whole wheat.  In my opinion, the egg wash is unnecessary and a silicone mat is a better option that greasing the pan.  Upping the yeast to a full tablespoon helps the whole wheat dough rise to its full potential.  Below is the recipe as I made it. 1 1/2 cups warm water 1 T Sugar 2 t salt 1T yeast 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 stick Earth Balance vegan margarine 10 cups water with 2/3 cup baking soda Combine the 1 1/2 cup warm water, sugar, salt and yeast.  Stir to dissolve.  At this point you can proof the yeast.  If you know your yeast is viable (fresh and stored properly), you can skip this step, it will still work perfectly fine. Add the m

I start looking forward to spring training as soon as the Super Bowl is over.  Get excited for the MLB or little league season with this baseball coaster.  This simple round coaster, dressed up with red stitching, is a quick and easy to make.  Use it as a coaster, under mugs and glasses, or use it as an applique to dress up another project. Baseball Coaster This coaster is made with less that 1 ounce of white worsted weight yarn and scraps of red yarn.  You will need a blunt tapestry needle to weave in the ends and to embroider the accent stitches.  I used a size g hook but any similar sized hook can be used.  This pattern uses US crochet terms If you have any questions about this pattern, let me know in the comments, and I will do my best to help you out. Foundation: ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook to form a ring Rnd 1: ch1 (counts as beginning sc here and throughout pattern), 7 sc in ring, sl st to join beginning sc Rnd 2: ch 1, 2sc in each st around, sl st to join beginning  Rnd 3 &

Starburst Motif I made this star burst motif for a holiday ornament swap I participate in each year.  I love to use bright contrasting colors but this could also be made in more subdued colors or even a single color.  Add a hook or simply make a loop of yarn to hang the ornament. Crocheted motifs make excellent Christmas tree ornaments because they are lightweight and won't shatter if  when your cat knocks them to the floor.  Use them to decorate a wrapped present, a hostess gift or a plate of cookies.  String them together as a garland.  There are hundreds of way to use these motifs. This pattern is a great way to use up scrap yarn.  You only need about 15 yards all together.  I used a size g hook but any similar sized hook will work. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to help you. Foundation: With color A, ch 3, sl st into 3rd ch from the hook to form a ring. Rnd 1: ch 2, put 12 hdc into the ring, sl st to top of ch 2, fasten off Rnd

Surprise your sweetheart with a set of these sweet conversation heart coasters.  These coasters are perfect for Valentine's day or any time of the year.  Make a set with several different "sweet nothing" phrases embroidered on them.  Not feeling the love?  Change the phrases to "Bug Off" or Luv Stinks" for a sarcastic anti-Valentine's day coaster. This pattern is made with less than 1 ounce of cotton worsted weight yarn such as Sugar'n Cream or Lion Brand kitchen cotton in pastel colors.  You will also need scraps of red yarn for the words.  I used a size g hook but you can use any similar sized hook.  To hide the ends and to embroider the words you will need a blunt tapestry needle. If you have any questions about this patterns, feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to help you. Row 1: Ch 2, turn Row 2: 2 sc in 2nd ch from the hook, ch 1 turn (2) Row 3: 1 hdc then 1 sc in first st, 1sc then 1 hdc in second st (4) Row 4-8: Ch 2 turn, 1hd

I have another coaster to share.  This time I had a special home brewer in mind.  This quick and easy coaster is made to look like a pint of beer with a thick foamy head.  If that wasn't inviting enough, the words "Have A Home Brew" remind us all to relax and enjoy a cold beverage. These coasters can be made is any color of the beer rainbow from pale ale to malty stout.  You could embroider other words such as "Cheers" "Happy Hour" or you could also make them green for St Patricks day with the words "Kiss me".  If you want a kid friendly coaster, make it in a dark brown to resemble root beer or an eerie green color for a Halloween witch's brew.  The possibilities are endless. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  sc = single crochet; ch = chain; yo = yarn over. To make the puff stitch =  Yo, insert hook into stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo,insert hook into same stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through all loops on the hook.  Le

Here is a quick and easy pattern for a football coaster.  You can make them in brown and white for a classic football look or in your favorite teams colors.  Make a whole set for when your friends come over on Sunday afternoon to watch the game. Coasters are a great stash buster and a quick project.  If you don't want to use these as coasters you could add a magnet for on the fridge or add a loop of yarn to make a Christmas tree ornament.  They can also be used as an applique to decorate another project. This pattern uses US crochet terms.  sc = single crochet; hdc = half double crochet; ch = chain; yo = yarn over. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help you. This is made with worsted weight yarn, less than 1 ounce of main color and scraps of accent color.  You will also need scissors and a tapestry needle to weave in ends.  I used size G crochet hook but a similar sized hook can be used. The number (#) at the end of each row is the num

I call my snack boxes "bento" but they are not true bento boxes.  A bento is a popular boxed lunch in Japan.  They are usually made up of rice, seaweed, fish and vegetables.  The food is carefully tucked into the bento box in intricate and creative ways.  There are some amazing bentos out there.  I borrow inspiration and some techniques from these bento box lunches for my snack boxes. My boxes are not complete lunches, they just serve as a snack or accompany a lunch.  The ingredients I use are decidedly western; usually a combination of fresh or dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, crackers, cheeses, cold meats, yogurt, dips and occasionally something sweet.  You could use anything you want but I generally try to stick with healthy foods.  I will occasionally dress up the boxes using bento accessories or making a themed box, usually I keep it simple.  Choosing vibrant colorful foods and arranging them neatly is the key to a beautiful snack box. The boxes are fun to make and fun to

Have you ever seen seeds that have sprouted inside of a vegetable?  This was a butternut squash.  How cool!

I'm working on posting a weekly dinners video on YouTube.  I love watching these types of videos to get ideas for my own meal planning, new recipes, re-invented classics.  Here is a little teaser. This is what we had Sunday.  Since it was Super Bowl Sunday I made a selection of party snacks.  My husband requested hot wings and I had wanted to make pretzel wrapped hot dogs for a while and now I had the perfect excuse.  Originally I was going to simply wrap the pretzel dough around the hot dog but after watching a video from  Noreen's Kitchen  I learned how to braid the hot dog into the pretzel.  Don't they look amazing?  Deviled eggs and some veggies round out the meal.  The game was a little underwhelming but dinner was excellent!

I completed several projects for my baby while I was still pregnant.  I had plans to make many more, of course, but its so hard  to anticipate the needs of a person you have yet to meet.  I made several hats only to discover that bonnets stay on better.  I made some booties that were too small for her long feet.  I made wool diaper soakers but never got around too using them before she outgrew them (oops!).  One of the things that I made that have been very useful are bibs.  I made a couple simple cotton bibs using  this pattern  and cotton yarn from my stash.  The yarn is mostly Sugar'n Cream and some Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton.  These bibs work perfectly for catching drool and keeping her clothes clean and dry. These are a good size for her now, but it would be incredibly easy to make these larger or smaller by changing hook size or adding a couple extra stitches.  The patterns works up quickly and easily.  A great stash buster!