A quick & easy T-shirt dress.

I know that it still may be winter here but I do start preparing for summer early. One of our fave things to do in summer is take a Sunday drive to the coast to go swimming, shopping & eat way to much! When doing all of those things, you need an outfit that is comfortable & easy. A t-shirt dress is great as a beach cover up, slip on a belt, bangles & cute sandals & you have a super cute shopping outfit, & of course it is loose & comfy for all that yummy food! It can even go to night time by adding a sexy pair of heels, some beaded necklaces & a handbag. Once you have made one of these dresses, you will want one for every day of summer!! You can also wear them in winter. Put a pair of leggings under, a cardigan & a belt & you have a super cute & comfy winter outfit! This tutorial was going to be a step by step for beginners but due to the fact that my camera broke halfway through, it is suitable for someone with a little bit of experience because the middle steps were lost due to the memory card breaking off inside the camera! If you can sew & attach ribbing then you will have no troubles!!

Now, because it is the middle of winter & my legs have not seen the sun for a few months, I am glad I have my torso mannequin to be the model!

Now, to make this pattern all you need to do is trace around your biggest t shirt or raid your mans cupboard & trace one of his. You can trace straight onto your fabric or onto some calico. I prefer the calico option so that you have the exact pattern to make more, which I know you will want to!!  Lengthen the top onto the pattern to make it into a dress. I made this t shirt dress out of a nice stretch knit so that it does not require ironing, travels well & can worn from day to night & still look fresh. I chose a navy & white stripe material for that nautical look. I can team it with red, white, blue, silver or gold accessories. I brought 2m of this material & I have enough left to make a top.

OK, so before I go any further, I apologise for my "paint shop" drawings!! I can draw anything with an old fashioned pencil & paper, but with a mouse....not so good!!  Back to the sewing! Follow the dotted lines as in the picture above. Make sure to leave your neck opening larger than your old t shirt neck so that you can wear it slightly off the shoulder for a different look.

 Cut a neck binding by cutting a 2 inch wide strip of material from the leftover material. Fold it in half length ways & sew it on to the neck opening.

Hem the arm openings & the bottom of the dress.

You then have the basic t shirt dress. Now, left by itself it is a great beach cover up.

Team it with a belt & some beaded necklaces......you have an out fit!!

To give it a bit of an edge, wear it slightly off the shoulder......

Once you have made one of these easy to make dresses, you will want one in every colour!!!

Refashion a jacket.

I love to spend hours browsing through second hand shops. There is something wonderful about finding a beautiful vintage piece of clothing & giving it a new lease on life. I know that I am not alone, there is many of us out there. I know this because I have entered a competition for "upcycling". Sew Wat is a facebook group that encourages upcycling, recycling & refashioning clothing. I thought that I would share with you one of the "refashioned" pieces that I have entered & show you how you can do it for yourself. I have been lucky enough to come across a few beautiful jackets lately from my local second hand shop. Some of them needed no alteration but I found a tweed jacket that needed to be brought back into fashion. This is the jacket as I found it.............

Now it really was a bargain at $7.50!!!

It now has a new lease on life & it was as easy as this......................

By shortening the sleeves.............

Sewing some bias binding around the bottom of the sleeves, around the collar & the bottom of the jacket.....

Adding a denim flower brooch & making a small tote bag (from the sleeves that were cut off) & decorating with a  matching denim flower.................

I have brought the jacket back into fashion!!

I have worn this jacket once since I made it & was given 4 complements by complete strangers!! 2 of those people worked in a high end fashion store!! I did not tell them my secret, I just accepted the complement & giggled as I left the store!! Why not update a jacket that you already have or spend a little time in your local second hand store. You might just be able to find a beautiful jacket just waiting to be refashioned!

Lavender Wheat Bags

My best friend lately has been my home made wheat bag. I have been struck down with the winter nasties & the only comfort for me is knowing that at the end of a long day I can pop my lavender wheat bag in the microwave & take it to bed to keep me warm! My last wheat bag had seen better days, I had mended it numerous times so I decided that I would make my own! I was shocked at how cheap they are to make. The wheat was $1.65 per kilo from the local produce store, the material I used was scraps that I had left over & I already had a bottle of lavender oil! It took about 20 minutes from start to finish to make 4 of them. I made three 11 x 9 inch bags for bedtime & one small 9 x 7 inch bag for bumps & bruises. You do not just have to use wheat bags for heat. You can place them in the freezer & use as ice packs. For using as a heat pack, place it in the microwave with a cup of water. Heat on high for 3 minutes. Some microwave oven times may vary so please keep an eye on them.

You can make them with any cotton, denim or corduroy material. It is not suitable for stretch materials or high fire risk materials.

Cut 2 pieces of material in the desired size of your bag. Sew around the edges leaving an opening at one end so you can turn the bag in the right way. I did 2 rows of stitching for extra strength.

Turn your bag in the right way. Place the bag, standing up with opening at the top, inside a bowl. Place a funnel in the bag & pour the wheat in it. You only need to half fill the bag. The bag that is 11 x 9 inches needed 1.3kgs of wheat

Pour a couple of drops of lavender oil inside the bag then sew the opening closed.

You are done!! It is very quick & easy. Make them for gifts, make one for every member of your family or just make them for yourself! Enjoy

Biscuits for the masses!

The first time I found this biscuit recipe was in a school fete recipe book that my Mum had brought back in the 70's. I have noticed lately that it is making a BIG comeback! I have seen it talked about in almost every "living on a budget" website/blog/facebook page. It has been referred to as "100+ biscuit's for under $5", "120 biscuits for $4". It goes by many names but it was originally called Biscuits For The Masses. If told you how long I have been making this recipe I would really be giving away my age! Lets just say that I have been making it for years! It is such a basic, simple recipe & the dough freezes well so if you put some in the freezer, you will always have something to eat when the cupboard is bare! The mix does make a lot of dough so unless you are feeding a football team, then I really do sugest freezing some!

 Now this recipe is for the "base", you can add to it whatever you want. All will be revealed below!! So, here goes............

500g of margarine
1 tin of condensed milk
1 cup of sugar
5 cups of Self Raising flour

Pre heat oven to 170 degrees

Using an electric beater, cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add condensed milk & beat for a further minute.

In a large bowl, place the flour & fold through the butter mix until it is well combined.

At this point, you can freeze some of it. I froze half of the mix as I was having people over for morning tea. Roll the amount to be frozen into logs using alfoil. Seal well.

With the dough that you are going to use, you can add anything you want such as:

Choc Chips

Fruit & nut mix

Smarties

 M & M's

Milo

Cocoa

Macadamia nuts & white choc chips

Chopped up mars bars

cherry ripe

bounty bars

You can also take tablespoons full of the mix & roll in:

Jelly crystals

cinnamon sugar

coconut

100's & 1000's

You can roll the mix into tablespoon fulls, flaten slightly& make an indent in the top to:

add jam for jam drops

a freckle chocolate

crushed boiled lollies

Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.

The ones on the left of the above picture were rolled in castor sugar, the middle had choc chips added & the ones on the right were rolled in jelly crystals. Keep in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

Very Berry Sorbet, very very fast!!!

Very Berry Sorbet, very, very fast!!!

This is a very quick & delicious desert! Well, I think I could actually eat it at any time of the day!! It takes around 60 seconds in the food processor. There is not much else to say about this desert than yummy!! So here goes...................

1 x 500g box of frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup of Castor sugar
1 cup of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Put all of the ingredients in the food processor.

Process for about 60 seconds or until it looks like ice cream.

It can be served as is or you can pop it in the freezer for an hour till it is firm. I always have a few empty ice cream containers on hand & they come in perfect for storing home made sorbet.

Scoop it out like ice cream & enjoy!!

Spicy Pumpkin bread

Spicy pumpkin bread has become of of my fave types of bread. I first made this bread a couple of months ago & now I am hooked!! Made it quite a few times since because it is quick & easy & tastes so good!! With pumpkins being so cheap at the moment, still $2 for a whole pumpkin at my local green grocers, make this in bulk & freeze it! Great to have by itself, warm & with a generous amount of butter, served with a stew or casserole, toasted for breakfast, there are so many ways to eat this yummy bread.

You can even make this quicker to make by using leftover roast pumpkin from dinner the night before.

So here goes................

Spicy Pumpkin Bread
2 cups of Self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 cup of mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup of milk
60g of butter, melted then cooled
2 eggs lightly whisked

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees
Line a loaf pan with baking paper
Whisk flour, chilli powder & salt in a large mixing bowl

In a separate bowl, mix mashed pumpkin, milk, butter & eggs with a whisk. Add to the flour mix & stir until just combined.

Spoon into a lined loaf pan & smooth the surface.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn it out & slice & serve straight away. Or you can wrap the slices in glad wrap & freeze to enjoy at a later time!! Perfect for lunches, an afternoon snack or breakfast.

Whatever you are up to today, enjoy!

Pikelets. Cooking with Kids

In our house, pikelets are always a big hit. The chickadees love it when they get home from school & there is a plate full of warm pikelets waiting for them. They also love to cook them for me!! Pikelets are great to freeze for school lunches, morning tea at work, for a hard working truckie to take in the big rig, a Mum to have with a cuppa in the afternoon, breakfast............whenever!!! Miss K has just finished making a batch, plain for me & she added choc chips to the batter before cooking her own. The possibilities are endless!! They are quick & easy & your kids will love to make them. While the kids are on holidays, whip up a double batch & freeze them for picnics in the park or prepare for them to take them for school lunches! Who cares if the kitchen gets messy like this....................

It's the fun of cooking with Mum or Dad that is the important part!! Miss K is 12 & does not need any help at all & knows the recipe off by heart. It is a recipe that she will make for her own kids & so on. So why not make some with your kids, here goes..................

Pikelets

1 cup of SR flour
1/4 teaspoon of bicarb soda
2 tablespoons of Castor sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup of milk

Place all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk so that there is no lumps in the flour. Add the egg & milk, whisk well. The most important thing to remember is that there can not be any lumps.

In a hot, lightly greased fry pan, drop tablespoon fulls of the mixture. When bubbles appear on the surface, it is time to flip the pikelet over. Cook till golden brown.

Serve with your choice of butter, Vegemite, jam, cream, nuttella, etc.

These are Miss K's choc chip pikelets. She just added the choc chips to the mixture before cooking.

Yum yum!! I am off to have second with a lovely cup of tea! Enjoy!!

Pizookie!!!

OK, so over the last couple of weeks I have been seeing a LOT of other bloggers talking & linking about "Pizookie". My curiosity got the better of me & I started to do a little bit of googling. I have to say, "Pizookie where have you been all my life???" From what I have found out, it is an American desert that is a biscuit dough that is normally cooked in a deep pizza dish & topped with ice cream. I came a cross a few variations & the one that tickled my fancy the most was the dough cooked in a small oven proof dish till lightly golden on top, still warm & gooey under & served with ice cream. HOLEY DOOLEY!!! It is amazing!!

You could use any biscuit recipe that you like. I used a chocolate choc chip recipe that I think is perfect for this desert. We topped it off with home made cookie dough ice cream & ice magic............I know, I know, not very diet friendly but I couldn't care less.......................this is worth every calorie!!! So I will not keep the secret any longer, here goes.......


Pazookie (Deep dish cookie)

160g of brown sugar
160g of castor sugar
255g of margarine
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of venilla essence
1 teaspoon of salt
370g of plain flour
1 teaspoon of bicarb soda
3 tablespoons of cocoa
250g of choc chips

Ice cream to serve

Beat butter & sugars until light & fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla & salt. Beat well.

In a large bowl, whisk the rest of the (dry) ingredients.

Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients & fold through, then mix well till all combined.

Fill small oven proof bowls (ramekins or small cereal bowls) 1/2 inch deep with cookie dough.

Place the bowls on a baking tray & put int he oven on 170 degrees for around 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Now the secret to this desert is to make sure that the dough is warmed through or slightly undercooked so that it is soft & gooey but not doughy.

There you have it, Pizookie or deep dish cookie. Serve warm (remember the bowls will be hot so hold underneath with a tea towel). Put a scoop of ice cream on top & even a splash of chocolate topping.

From the first mouthful of warm cookie dough & cold icecream, you will be hooked!!!

If you have leftover uncooked dough. place tablespoon fulls onto lined baking trays & make some biscuits for the next day. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!!

Oreo icing for cupcakes!

Mmmmmmm, Oreo icing!! This icing is melt in your mouth delicious!! It is a very simple cream icing that goes really well with the chocolate cake recipe that I did as one of my first blogs. Instead of making one large round cake, I made cupcakes. Make the recipe the same but spoon the mixture into cupcake wrappers, in a muffin tin. Cook for 15-20mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cut a small hole out of the top of each cupcake.

In a food processor, finely crush one box of  Oreo cookies. Set aside.

Using an electric beater, whip 250ml of cream & 3 tablespoons of icing sugar.

Gently food through half of the crushed Oreo's through the cream.

Use a piping bag to fill the holes in the cupcakes with the icing cream.

Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the icing cream.

With the remaining crushed Oreo's, sprinkle over the tops of the cupcakes.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, enjoy!