Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Headbands

It was so fun to make these! I sat down on my bedroom floor and spread out all of my materials. (When I say all of my materials, I had a ton of fabric spread around, buttons everywhere, my thread jars, antique jewelry, and a ton of other embellishments.) I wish I had more time to do this, it was so fun to just create and have it all at my fingertips.


I know I really need to get someone to model my stuff! I got this jewel in New York City at a Thrift Store. It was actually an earring and I turned it into a sweet headband!





I love this one, the hard thing about making stuff to sell is that I want one of each! I used some grey knit fabric that I got at a Thrift Store and a little lace doily that I also got at a Thrift Store. (Don't worry I wash all of the stuff before I use it.) I added pearls to the middle of each flower. I really like how it turned out.





I used some turquoise swede material, black tool and some black silky fabric and made my own elastic headband. The elastic that I used I got in New York at Mood Fabric (I think it is my new favorite place, they had everything in abundance, I was in heaven. It is probably the only thing that would get me to go back to New York. I will post photos of the fabric that I got, it is to die for!)




This hair clip I made from some mustard fabric, I don't really know what type of fabric it is. I got it in Burley, Idaho in this way old fabric store. (Most of the fabric was probably there when the store opened.) For the leaves I used some of the wool that I got from old man suit coats from the DI. I added a little bit of tool to give a little extra style.

Hope you like them, let me know what you think and hopefully there will be more soon!!


Spinach!

Lately I have been craving spinach, I know that is really weird! I have been putting it in everything. My cousin Crystal gave me a recipe, and it is very interesting, it was definitely a taste that grew on me. When I first tried it I was mad that I had waisted all of the good ingredients. But after a few sips I really enjoyed it!

Shake




Recipe:
1 cup of juice (I did orange juice)
1/4 cup non dairy creamer (I used vanilla yogurt instead)
3-4 baby carrots
2-3 handfuls of spinach
1 heaping tbsp of cottage cheese
1 banana
1 cup mixed fruit (I put pineapple, strawberries and mangoes)
2 cups of ice
To make it sweeter add a little bit of honey (I just realized I didn't read that line, but I just added a ton of sugar!)

Mix it up in the blender and enjoy! Give it a second taste, the first might not be that enjoyable! The texture takes a bit to get use to. My cousin gives this to her kids, I don't know how they drink it (no offense Crystal), it is good, but I can't believe her kids like it. I tried it on my cousin while I was babysitting the other day, and the look on her face was really funny!


I don't know why I am putting these photos on, mainly because I enjoy taking photos of food (not that these look great, but it is fun.) I also am showing how I have been putting spinach on everything!

I used a baguette from Crumb Brothers, thinly sliced. Topped it with some spinach, Myzithra cheese and a poached egg with some Tony's Creole seasoning. It sounds so weird, but I love it!

I have also been making quesadillas with spinach, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Flour or Corn tortillas work great, right now I am really liking corn tortillas.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

One Tree Bird Design Etsy Shop


I have had a hard time deciding how to set my etsy shop up, but I think I am going with this shop and I am just going to have everything on it. Let me know what you think, share the link with your friends and family. I know I need to put some new stuff on there, but for now it is stuff I have on hand.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/onetreebird

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

North Indian-Style Spinach Chicken




The photos do not look the best, and sometimes Indian food doesn't look that appetizing. This recipe is from the March edition of Sunset Magazine. Check out their photo it looks a little more appetizing!

I am in love with Indian flavors and spices, I can't get enough of them. I am loving new recipe right now and especially ethnic foods.

Ingredients:
8 oz. cremini or button mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 lbs chicken cut into pieces
1 lb baby spinach
3 Tbsp. canola oil (if you don't have that you can use vegetable oil)
1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds (I can not find these, so I left them out. If anyone knows where to buy them let me know!)
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 large onion (I used a yellow one)
4 large garlic cloves minced
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup diced canned tomatoes
1/2 bunch cilantro

Directions:
1. In a 6-8 qt. pot, heat oil, add fenugreek seeds and sizzle for 2 seconds, then stir in onion and mushrooms. Cook for 5-7 minutes stirring often and until lightly brown. (I used a Tagine to cook all of this, it works really well and makes the chicken very tender. I found my Tagine at Sur La Table.)

2. Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, cayenne, coriander, cumin, and salt to pot; sizzle for a few seconds. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink on outside. The chicken will continue to cook while it simmers in the sauce. Add tomatoes, simmer covered for 8 minutes. (My brother taught me that the flavors will mix together if you pre mix all of the spices before adding to dish.)

3. Stir in spinach and simmer, covered, until wilted about 3 minutes. Chop cilantro, stir in dish along with lemon juice and serve with rice. (I prefer basmati rice)

It wasn't very spicy, so in the end I added a 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, it could take a little more. Or at first you could saute a jalepeno pepper in or a serrano pepper.

Serves 4.