Thursday, May 26, 2011

Etsy treasury -*Featured*

There is too much good stuff in this Day of the Dead collection! I'm so excited my zippered pouch is part of this.

Dia de los Muertos!


Posted by Michelle Greene Photography, Orange County, CA at 9:15 AM 0 comments

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sew Fun!

When I first started sewing a couple of years ago, everything was for the kids. I was just fooling around having fun, making little dolls, skirts for Emma, fixing ripped clothes or toys. But after starting Purdy Burdy I was on a mission. To make anything and everything I wanted for the shop.

The other day Emma and I went to a store that sells local crafters items. She saw so much stuff she wanted, and in the back of my head I kept saying, I can make that, I can make that. Some items were down right expensive! When we got home I decided to make her a stuffed toy, created by her. She thought of what she wanted, drew it up for me, picked the fabrics and notions, and I did all the sewing. No books, no patterns, no rules. Emma loves it. Me? Well I can pick out every flaw, eyes too far apart, one ear bigger than the other. But she doesn't see any flaws, and that's all that matters.







Posted by Michelle Greene Photography, Orange County, CA at 5:55 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

What's for dinner?

Growing up I wouldn't really say I was an adventurous with food choices, but then again I wasn't really exposed to different foods. I was raised by a single mother who worked full time, but still managed to find time to cook everyday during the week. All the dishes were the normal "comfort" food dishes, and stayed pretty consistent from week to week. Monday was beef stroganoff night, Tuesday was meatloaf. Some of the dishes changed every now and then, but the frozen chicken pot pies and lamb chops were there week after week. I never really got tired of them, but then again I didn't think I had any other options.

Now that I'm grown with kids I feel the home cooked dinner where we all sit together is a must. Mostly for my sanity. It's the one thing I have complete control over, my time to be in the zone and create something my husband and kids could enjoy (crossing my fingers). Both my kids are still very young, 8 and 6, so I feel I need to enjoy these dinners as much as possible, because the older they get, I feel the harder it will be.

I'm VERY lucky to say I have kids with a great palate for food. My son is willing to try anything. I mean anything! Even the octopus salad at Whole Foods complete with cold tentacles, and he loves it! YUCK! My daughter, not so much. She's a little pickier, but surprises me. Both love any kind of veggies and fruits and would actually choose that over sweets and candy any day. So I don't have to find creative ways to sneak those healthy foods into our dinners. They didn't get that trait from me, I LOVE sweets!

I always have friends that ask why they aren't picky eaters, but I feel it's because they have had so many food options in front of them daily that they can choose what they like and don't. I grew up hating fish sticks with a passion! Any kind of fish for that matter. Looking back I realized how could I hate it if I didn't try it? It all comes back to my mom, who despised fish, which meant we NEVER ate it. I even cried at 6th grade camp because the Friday dinner was fish sticks. I refused to eat them!

There are very many food magazines out there. My favorite being Everyday Food Magazine by Martha Stewart. Grab one next time your at the grocery store. What I do is flip through the magazine and tear out any recipes that I may want to consider making. Before I make my weekly trip to the grocery store, I go through all the recipes I kept, figure out which ones I want to try during the week, and write all the ingredients to buy at the store. This really keeps me on track with making sure I get everything I need. Once I have made the recipe my family votes thumbs up or thumbs down. Thumbs up means the magazine recipe gets added to my cookbook (3 ring binder), thumbs down means it's trash and must never be made again. **Warning-doing this may give you a giant stack of torn out magazine papers, which can get out of control**

Last night was an easy dinner night. Spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. Today is a little more work, but worth it. This recipe was a keeper with the kids. Who knew?




Happy Cooking!

Posted by Michelle Greene Photography, Orange County, CA at 4:05 PM 1 comments
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