my first mommy project

I wanted a sewing machine for my birthday, in August. This is my first project, it's October. In any case I think it went well. I still have a few things to do but since the bad dog ate my red thread I'll have to wait until I get more red thread to finish them.

Now Jackson can spit up in style with his Georgia Bulldog and green monkey burp cloths!

Fabulous Fall Dinner

I have been wanting to make cabbage rolls for a while but I thought they would be really hard, I was wrong. These were delicious and fairly easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 head cabbage
3/4 pound ground beef (I used Morning Star meatless crumbles)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup long grain rice ( I used brown rice)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or oregano (I used Italian Seasoning)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Start boiling a pot of water and preheat oven to 350
Brown the meat and chopped onion and drain.
Since I used the meatless crumbles I added some water,
and garlic to the "meat" to give it some flavor.

After the meat is done add the can of tomatoes, don't drain, 1/2 cup water,
uncooked rice, Worcestershire sauce (I added a little extra to give the crumbles more flavor), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender. Stir in 1/4 cup cheese.

While the meat and rice is cooking cut the big vein out of about 10 cabbage leaves.
Leave the leaf whole just take off the big, hard part of the vein at the bottom. When the water is boiling, put about 4 or 5 cabbage leaves in and boil until they are limp, about 3 minutes. Drain and then rinse with cold water. Repeat for the other leaves.


When the meat mixture is done, scoop about 1/3 cup into a cabbage leaf and roll up like a burrito. I wasn't really particular about it, just try to keep the meat inside.




Put a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning into the can of tomato sauce and stir it up. Pour half the can into the bottom of your casserole dish or 9x13 cake pan.
Lay the cabbage rolls in the pan with the flat side up, so that they don't unroll. Then pour the other half of the can of sauce evenly over the cabbage rolls. Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes. When they are done sprinkle the rest of the cheddar cheese over them. I did half with cheese and half without, both were really good.



If you give this a try let me know what you think and if you make any creative substitutions.

New Camera

We ordered a new camera to take pictures of the baby when he comes. We don't have a car seat, a baby tub, or diapers but we have a camera. Clearly we have our priorities in line. The new camera is pretty cool. It has a special setting for child portraits, which is great because I am a point and shoot kind of girl. Since we don't have a baby yet we have been trying out the other settings.

The food setting:
These cupcakes were voted the best cupcakes in Atlanta. I bought 12 for $29. I do not know who voted in this contest. I make cupcakes that are 100 times better. So if you're in Atlanta don't stop at Sweet Pockets for overpriced cupcakes.

This is another really exciting thing to take a picture of: homemade pizza. It was good but I wouldn't normally take a picture unless I wanted to try out a new camera setting.

The pet portrait setting:
Caesar the chihuahua. He was good for the first 7 pictures I took.
Then he started ignoring me and eventually hid behind the couch.
This is Brewster the mutt we got when someone found him wandering in a campground.
This is the strangest face I've ever seen a dog make.

I'm hoping to borrow some kids this week from my friends and try out the child setting on them :)

crazy?

I may or may not be completely crazy. I am still planning to walk in the 3 Day for a Cure in 2 weeks. I will be 30 weeks pregnant at the time of the walk. It is 20 miles each day for 3 days. I am not sure if I will make the whole 20 each day but I will be giving it my best! Visit my team page to see photos from last year and make a donation

Under Garment Avengers our team is University of Georgia (UGA) themed :)