Author Archives: mlwilkie

Unknown's avatar

About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

Fighting the sweet tooth

Leave a reply

One of my goals, that I did not do well on last month was avoiding sugar. I put it down as a goal for this month as well. Tonight, I was really wanting something sweet, so to combat the craving I made chocolate date truffles. They are nice and quick to make and all you need is a food processor.

IMG_7111

Ingredients

15-20 dates
1/4 cup of cocoa (unsweetened)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut (unsweetened)

Soak the dates in a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a kitchen whizz (food processor) along with the other ingredients. Pulse a few times (~ 2 mins).

Roll the mixture into balls and either roll then in coconut or cocoa powder (above I used cocoa). Place in the refrigerator to cool and set.

Alternatives:
I have seen other people who have made these without oats and replace them with almond, walnuts, hazelnuts or almond butter. I like the oaty taste more than the nutty taste. You could also add vanilla essence for flavor.

Outdoor art pieces + Meal plan {08.04.2013}

Leave a reply

IMG_0690This week was kind of quiet, so not much to recap. I do have some photos to share though, of the first amazing Spring weekend we have had.  We went to our favorite cafe – Guglhupf  ( a german bakery), where they have added a couple of cool outdoor art pieces to their collection.

WP_20130406_004 WP_20130406_006 WP_20130406_007

This is our plan for week 13:

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Sunday Strawberry+ Banana crepes Leftovers
Monday Bircher Muesli Creamy Vegetable Shepherds Pie (Hopefully 4th time the charm)  20 mins. HIT
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetable Biryani (adding broccoli and left over vegetables from Sunday) 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Bircher Muesli Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Vegetable Pasta Bake
Friday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Vegetarian Burgers + Salad 20 mins. HIT

We are spending $70 a week only, for our meals, by providing a shopping list. So, here was this weeks grocery list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK) IN THE CUPBOARD/FRID
  • Grapes (TJ)
  • Bananas (TJ)
  • Broccoli (TJ)
  • Bell Peppers(TJ)
  • Lettuce (TJ)
  • Tomatoes (TJ)
  • Cucumber (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Eggs (TJ)
  • Ground Beef 96/4 (TJ)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Split Peas (TT)
  • Dates (TT)
  • Sultanas (TT)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Potatoes (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Marinara Sauce (BJ or TT)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)
  • Vegetable Patties (TJ)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

Hope everyone has a good week. I would love to see what you are doing for meal planning or trying to balance your life – leave a link to your post in the comments below 🙂

Weekend finishes…Chair Bags, Pencil Case, Coffee cup sleeve

17 Replies

I am switching my posts around today, as I am waiting to get photos of the hubby for the our weekly recap and menu plan. So, instead today here are my weekend finishes.

1.  New 3 pocket chair bag (chair pocket) set for my Etsy store. I desperately need a couple of girl sets, so I chose purple to start.  The materials I used for these were corduroy, and home essential fabrics that I had purchased at JoAnn’s.
IMG_7101 IMG_7099

2. A pencil case using one of the projects from Patchwork, Please by Ayumi Takahashi. It is a paper piecing project with small pieces. Unfortunately, this one is definitely not perfect, I had traced the pattern onto paper, and with the slight inaccuracies from tracing, then the slight sewing inaccuracies the pencil tops were a little wonky. I would recommend using a photocopier instead of tracing, at least I will next time. I chose not to do the embroidery stitching this time as I thought there was enough color with the choices of the fabric below.

IMG_7094

I used the following materials:

Yellow: Riley Blake, Yellow on yellow Chevron.
Orange: Crosshatch in Tangerine from the Architextures collection by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman.
Green: Metro Living Circles in Chartreuse from the Metro Living Collection from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
Purple: Lizzie House’s Pearl Bracelet in purple for Andover Fabrics.
Blue: Bubbles in Blue from Maritime Modern by Marin Sutton for Riley Blake.
Grey: Essex Linen Blend
Main Pocket: Osnaburg (with Pellon Shape flex for strength….I really need to purchase some neutral linen)
Lining: Lucie Summers, Summersville, Alphabetty Seafoam Fabric.
Ribbon: From JoAnn
Zip: From ZipIt

The back is quilted simply with a straight line.

IMG_7095

If you like this and my pin cushion you should join the Zakka Along 2.0 :: Patchwork, Please Flickr Group which starts June 3rd (I am just loving this book and being too keen which is funny as I am always so late to participate).

3.  I made another hexagon coffee cup sleeve – this one I am keeping. I tried a couple of new things with my design, I changed the stitching I used to join the hexagons which definitely hid the stitches a little better, and I sewed the elastic tie between the layer. I used the Sew Stitchy by Aneela Hoey for Moda fabric which I used in the above pin cushion. Additional materials you can find in here.

IMG_7103 IMG_7106

4. The last project I made, which I did not get photos for. It was a little Easter pouch/pocket that I made as a gift for Sean’s friend. She loved it and all the goodies inside.

Linking up with Plum and June and with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts
Plum and June