The Celtic Cross Counted Cross Stitch - Part 4

I said I would do it and I did: the base of the cross is done!

What I love most about this project is the visual progress. Even 15 minutes' work shows a new swirl or part of a ribbon. Every time I put down my needle, I'm proud of the work that I've done.

It's been time well spent.

My new goal is to have the rest done by October 15. With good time management skills, this should be completed on time.

The Celtic Cross Counted Cross Stitch - Part 3

Research has shown that people are really bad at estimating how long a project will take. I'm no different.

Did I really think I could have this finished by the end of September?

My new plan is to have the base of the cross done by Monday. With good time management skills and less time on Facebook, I will complete both this portion and all of my homework this weekend!

Egg Omelette, Steamed Bok Choy and Rice

Egg Omelette, Steamed Bok Choy and Rice
Serves 2
Ingredients

• 1 cup of rice (short grain or Japanese sushi rice)
• 1/4 cup of rice vinegar
• 2 pinches of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 head of baby bok choy

1. Boil the rice according to instructions, about 20 minutes or until fully cooked.

2. Heat the rice vinegar and one pinch of sugar in a small saucepan or in the microwave until the sugar has dissolved.

3. Cut the baby bok choy into quarters and heat on medium in a saucepan filled with water. Cover with a top and steam until soft (about 15 minutes).

4. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and combine with the remaining sugar and soy sauce.

5. While the eggs are cooking, combine the rice and rice vinegar mixture.

6. Cook the eggs like a mini-omelette and cut in half.

7. Serve one half of the egg omelette with half of the bok choy and rice.

It's important to do this with short rice; enriched long rice (like you get in Food Lion) does not provide the same stickiness and does not mix well with the rice vinegar. Done properly, it tastes like sushi rice. 

I've found that I prefer steamed bok choy to stir-fried bok choy; it doesn't taste as acidic but it still has a nice crunch.

I'm pretty bad at making tamagoyaki - Japanese egg omelettes - but my bad presentation doesn't make it any less delicious. This is one tasty, balanced meal.

My inspiration for it is here.

1 cup rice, 1/2 bag of rice at $0.77/bag = $0.39 at Food Lion

1/5 bottle of rice vinegar at $2.49/bottle = $0.50 at Food Lion

2 pinches of sugar: about $0.05 at Food Lion

2 eggs at $4.29/dozen = $0.72 at Food Lion

1/10 bottle of soy sauce at $1.99/bottle = $0.20 at Food Lion

1 baby bok choy: $0.46 at Food Lion

Total Cost: $2.32 for 2 servings or $1.16 per serving

The Seal Pup Felting Project - Master Post

The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 1 - July 8, 2013
The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 2 - July 11, 2013
The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 3 - July 22, 2013
The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 4 - August 2, 2013
The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 5 - August 7, 2013

The Celtic Cross Cross Stitch - Part 2

So this:

became this:

and finally this:

All in about three days, of course.

This is fun. I really didn't expect to like a project like this so much; last time, I kept losing my needle and knotting the thread. I didn't understand how to go about changing threads and tying off the ends. This time, I want to spend all of my free time on it, as long as my fingers will stand it.

It helped that I had a better idea of how to work; this video helped with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PEQtNcAXX8

I'll say this is a fourth of the way done - with luck, I should be finished by October. 

Sausage and Lentils

Sausage and Lentils
Serves 4
Ingredients

• 1 cups dried lentils
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil
• 1 package of smoked or Polish sausage
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• handful of sliced green onions (optional)
• salt (for seasoning)

1. Fry the onion and garlic in a pan with the oil until tender; set aside.
2. Boil the lentils and water in a saucepan with the onion and garlic for 10 minutes.
3. Slice the sausage into chunks, then add the meat with the cumin to the lentil mixture.
4. Cook for 15 more minutes, or until the lentils are soft.
5. Top with green onions and serve warm.

Modified from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sausage-and-lentils/.

I'm not a big fan of lentils but this turned out pretty well. The cumin was neither too faint nor overpowering and the sausage provided a different texture. As it is a hearty and cheap meal, I'll be keeping it.

1/2 bag of lentils at $2.29/bag = $1.15 at Food Lion
1/2 onion: $0.32 at Food Lion
1/2 bulb of garlic: $0.40 at Food Lion
1 package of Smoked Sausage: $2.29 at Food Lion
Canola Oil: about $0.10 at Food Lion
Cumin: about $0.05 at Food Lion
Green Onions: $0.40 at Food Lion
Total Cost: $4.71 for 4 servings or $1.18 per serving

Chinese Dumplings

Chinese Dumplings
Makes 48, about 4 servings
Ingredients
Dough:

• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 3 cup boiling water

Filling

• 8 ounces celery cabbage (Napa cabbage) [Note: Regular cabbage does not work]
• 3 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup of onions
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tspoon sesame oil
• Pinch of black pepper
• 3 tablespoons canola oil

Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil

1. Cut the cabbage finely and mix with the salt, setting it aside.

2. Mix the pork, green onions, water, cornstarch, onion, pepper and sesame oil together, then combine with the salted cabbage.

3. Combine the flour and water and knead into a dough for about 5-6 minutes [Warning: Hot].

4. Separate the dough into 4 pieces and roll each dough ball until all are are 1 foot long.

5. Cut the dough rolls into 12 slices, each.

6. Flatten each dough slice and spoon 1 teaspoon of pork mixture onto the dough, then fold over and pinch at the top.

7. Heat the canola oil in a frying pan and fry as many dumplings in a single layer as possible, until golden brown at the bottom.

8. Pour in 1/2 cup water and cover, cooking for 6-7 minutes.

9. Repeat with the rest of the dumplings.

10. Mix the sesame oil and soy sauce together to make a dipping sauce and serve with the dumplings.

Modified from http://chinesefood.about.com/od/potstickers/r/potstickers.htm

The original recipe called for 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of water; this is not nearly enough. I used up half of the pork mixture and all of the dumpling dough and had to cook the rest of the pork separately. The dough itself was pretty tasty but the filling wasn't very good at all.

I tried using cabbage instead of Napa cabbage but that didn't work out so well.

All in all, I won't be making this again. 

I did break a spoon mixing the dough.

Flour, about $0.50

Cornstarch, about $0.10 at Food Lion

Pork: $2.99 at Food Lion

Cabbage, 1/4 of a head at $1.40/head = $0.37 at Food Lion

Green onions: 1/4 of a bunch at $0.59/bunch = $0.15 at Food Lion

1/8 onion: $0.20 at Food Lion

Pepper: $0.01

Canola Oil: $0.20 at Food Lion

Sesame Oil: about $0.50 at Food Lion

Soy Sauce: about $0.66 at Food Lion

Salt: about $0.20 at Food Lion

Total: $5.88 for 4 servings or $1.47 per serving

Homemade Pizza

Homemade Pizza
Serves 4
Ingredients
Dough:

• 1 packet of dry active yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup water

Seasonings: (optional)

• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Toppings:

• 1 bag of shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 bag of pepperoni (optional)

1. Mix the yeast with lukewarm water and set aside.
2. Combine the flour with the salt and shortening and then add the yeast-water.
3. Mix well together until all of the water is absorbed into the dough.
4. Lightly flour a flat space and knead out the dough for about 5 minutes.
5. Pour the oil into a large bowl and coat the sides.
6. Put the dough into the oiled-bowl and coat the dough on all sides.
7. Cover and set aside for about 45 minutes.
8. Chop the onion and saute until tender. 
9. Combine all the spice together.
10. Simmer the tomato paste, water, onion and spices for 15-20 minutes in a small saucepan.
11. When the dough is ready, spread it on a baking sheet into one giant oval or 2 smaller circles. Roll up the edges for a fluffy crust if desired.
12. Spread the tomato mixture evenly on top.
13. Cover with cheese and desired toppings.
14. Bake for 20 minutes on 400 degrees on a middle rack.
15. Cut into pieces and let cool, then enjoy!

Modified from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mikes-homemade-pizza/

Nothing is quite as delicious as homemade pizza. This took about an hour and a half to make but there wasn't anything hard about it. I don't know where my pie cutter went so I improvised with a knife (that's why the slices look weird). The cheese had a tendency to fall off but I wasn't too concerned about that.

This is definitely a keeper. 

Note: I rounded up the cost for the spices so they are no doubt horribly exaggerated. 

Yeast, 1 packet of 3 at $1.11/trio = $0.37 at Food Lion

Flour: about $0.85 at Food Lion

Canola Oil: about $0.20 at Food Lion

Tomato Paste: $0.75 at Food Lion

1/2 onion: about $0.35 at Food Loin

Shortening: about $0.50 at Food Lion

Spices: perhaps $1.20 in total from Food Lion

Mozzarella: $2.27 from Food Lion

Pepperoni, 1/4 of a packet at $3.49/packet = $0.88 from Food Lion

Total : $7.37 for 4 servings or $1.84 per serving

The Celtic Cross Cross Stitch - Part 1

I've been at college for two weeks now and have't started something new? It's way past time to start a project!

I picked this up in Scotland about five months ago and kept putting it off. But no more!

You know, I could have sworn I wasn't going to be doing another counted cross stitch...