The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 3

Round 2 of the Seal Pups went better.

The body is shorter:

The head is bigger:

 And better placed:

The body is curved and not flat:

The front flippers help support the body:

And the back flippers are up:

This looks more like a seal than a voodoo doll:

I still have all of the detail work to do but so far, I've improved in my felting abilities.

Time spent: about 20 minutes.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup
Serves 4

• 3 large red onions or 4 medium ones
• 1 quart of beef stock
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• pinch of sugar
• 1/3 cup of apple cider (or red wine)
• 2 tbsp of French or Italian seasonings and a bay leaf
• 1 chopped garlic clove or 1 tsp garlic power
• Parmesan cheese (or other type of shredded cheese)
• Thick bread (optional)
• Brie or other type of soft cheese (optional)

1. Cut the red onions into long strips from pole to pole
2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom pot on medium to medium high heat
3. Add all of the onions and cook for 35-40 minutes, stirring constantly
4. After 10 minutes, add the sugar to help caramelize the onions
5. After the 35-40 minutes, add the apple cider or wine and scrap the brown fonds from the bottom and sides of the pot into the liquid
6. Add the stock, seasonings and garlic and cook for another 20 minutes
7. Slice the bread and soft cheese and arrange on a plate
8. Serve the hot soup in a bowl with Parmesan on top and enjoy with the bread and cheese

I love my mom's homemade soup. It takes an hour to cook and and the constant stirring is tiring but this soup is delicious! So much better than soup from the French Onion mix... It makes for good leftovers as well.

This is possibly my favorite recipe that I've ever made.

4 red onions: $3.90 at Fred Meyer

3 cups of beef stock + 1 more cup: $3.28 + $1.09 = $4.37 at Fred Meyer

Apple Cider, 1/5 of a carton at $3.69/carton = $0.74 at Fred Meyer

Vegetable Oil, about $0.15

Seasonings, about $0.50

Parmesan, about $0.30

Garlic Powder, about $0.15

Sugar, about $0.05

Total Cost for Soup: $10.16 for 4 servings or $2.54 per serving

1/2 loaf of French Bread at $1.99/loaf = $1.00 at Fred Meyer

1/2 wheel of Brie Cheese at $6.49/wheel = $3.25 at Fred Meyer

Total Cost for the whole meal: $14.41 for 4 servings or $3.60 per serving

Bento Box #8: Pesto Soba with Broccoli and Aspargus

Bento Box #8: Pesto Soba with Broccoli and Aspargus
Serves 3
Ingredients

• 1 head of broccoli
• 6 oz of soba noodles 
• 5 tbsp pesto
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 lb of asparagus

1. Slice the broccoli into florets and cut off the ends of the aspargus.
2. Cook the soba for 5 minutes. 
3. Add the broccoli and asparagus to the pot and cook for another 2-3 minutes until tender.
4. Drain and mix well with the pesto and balsamic vinegar.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Modified from http://curtainsandcoathooks.blogspot.com/2013/06/bento-box-5-tortellini-with-pesto-and.html

This turned out pretty well - soba noodles are light weight and don't feel starchy. The vegetables here are steamed and pretty tender, while the pesto and balsamic vinegar are well balanced and don't overpower the dish. This even refrigerates and reheats well, meaning I can make it on Sunday and have lunch made until Thursday. Paired with an apple or banana, this lunch is pretty healthy and filling.

I'll definitely be making this again and at under $2, it's one of my cheaper lunch dishes.

1 head of broccoli: $1.30 at Fred Meyer

1/2 of a packet of soba at $1.59/packet = $0.80 at Uwajimaya

Pesto, 1/2 of a jar at $3.19 = $1.60 at Safeway

Balsamic Vinegar, 1/5 of a jar at $2.95 = $0.60 at Safeway

1/2 lb of asparagus at $ 3.01/lb = $1.50 at Fred Meyer

Total Cost: $5.80 for 3 servings or $1.93 per serving

Other entries in this series:

Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago 

Bento Box #2: Edamame Salad with Rice 

Bento Box #3: Edamame Salad with Onigiri 

Bento Box #4: Corn and Black Bean Salad 

Bento Box #5: Tortellini with Pesto and Broccoli 

Bento Box #6: Broccoli and Rice Stir-Fry
Bento Box #7: Penne with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 2

Seal Pups: 1/3 done

Things I've Learned:

1. The body needs to be shorter
2. The head needs to be bigger and not as far back
3. The back flippers need to be turned sideways
4. Using the bead eyes is a good idea
5. Felting wisps is really hard

One down, two to go!

Bento Box #7: Penne with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Bento Box #7: Penne with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
Serves 3
Ingredients

• 1/2 box of penne pasta, about 1/2 lb. 

• about 1 carton of cherry tomatoes

• about 4 oz soft mild goat cheese

• basil or other spices (optional)

1. Cook the pasta according to instructions until tender, then drain but do not rinse
2. Cut the tomatoes in half and set aside
3. If not already crumbled, cut the goat cheese into small pieces
4. Mix the pasta with the goat cheese, letting the cheese melt on the pasta
5. Toss with the tomatoes and seasonings then serve

Modified from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pasta-with-Tomatoes-and-Goat-Cheese-103833

Another miss. For sure, the pasta is easy to have at hand and it is a good way to use up tomatoes but the taste doesn't justify the cost of the cheese. True, cheese is expensive. Still, if I want to keep these dishes under $2.50 per meal, I need to do better.

1/2 box of penne at $1.07/box = $0.53 at Fred Meyer

Goat Cheese: $4.99 at Fred Meyer

Cherry Tomatoes: 4/5 of a carton at $2.99/carton = $2.40 at Safeway

Total Cost: $7.92 for 3 servings or $2.64 per serving

Other entries in this series:

Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago 

Bento Box #2: Edamame Salad with Rice 

Bento Box #3: Edamame Salad with Onigiri 

Bento Box #4: Corn and Black Bean Salad 

Bento Box #5: Tortellini with Pesto and Broccoli 

Bento Box #6: Broccoli and Rice Stir-Fry

The Seal Pup Felting Project - Part 1

One pup is mostly done, according to the instructions:

The body is measured 7" by 3", rolled into a wedge 2.5" long. One side should be thicker than the other. That... didn't exactly happen.

Felting is essentially stabbing a barbed needle into wool a lot of times. Somehow, this works.

Rolling the head was a bit harder than the body:

The head should really be further down, almost hanging off the body:

I felted more wool onto the 'chest' of the seal:

 

Flippers:

 

The completed body:

When I handed this to a friend, she thought it was a voodoo doll:

The whole thing took about half an hour. I still have about 15 minutes' worth of work left to do - mostly the face. Surprisingly (for me, anyway), this was a pretty simple project... so far.

Bento Box #6: Broccoli and Rice Stir-Fry

Bento Box #6: Broccoli and Rice Stir-Fry
Serves 3
Ingredients

• 1 large head of broccoli
• 1/2 bulb of bok choy
• handful of green onions
• 1/2 large onion
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 2/3 of dry rice

1. In a small saucepan, boil the rice according to the directions.
2. In a large frying-pan, pour in the vegetable oil and heat on medium-high.
3. Chop the broccoli into florets, the bok choy and green onions into thin slices and dice the onion.
4. Add everything to the frying pan and cook until tender. Remove from frying pan.
5. In a small bowl, scramble the eggs and pour into the frying pan, cooking through.
6. Mix the scrambled eggs, vegetables and rice together in a large bowl and serve.

Modified from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-and-Rice-Stir-Fry/

I keep forgetting that my frying pan isn't that big. It's hard to stir-fry food when it keeps trying to fall out. This dish was pretty bland and taste-less.

Man, I really need to find a better stir-fry recipe. Certainly a smaller one.

Handful of green onions: $0.30 at Safeway
Boy choy, 1/2 of a bulb: $0.54 at Safeway
1/2 of an onion: $0.49 at Safeway
1 large head of broccoli: $1.66 at Safeway
2 eggs of a 12-egg carton at $4.19/carton = $0.70 at Fred Meyers
Vegetable Oil, about $0.15
Soy Sauce, 1/25 of a bottle at $2.69/bottle = $0.11 at Fred Meyer
Nishiki rice, 1/30 of bag at $12.79/bag = $0.43 at Target
Total Cost: $4.38 for 3 servings or $1.46 for one serving

Other entries in this series:

Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago

Bento Box #2: Edamame Salad with Rice
Bento Box #3: Edamame Salad with Onigiri
Bento Box #4: Corn and Black Bean Salad
Bento Box #5: Tortellini with Pesto and Broccoli

The Seal Pup Felting Project - Preview

My newest project - the Seal Pup Felting Project! I hope this will turn out faster and easier than some of my other projects. I've never tried felting before but it seems interesting and this project will be cute.

Here's hoping that I'll make progress on this one!

Bento Box #5: Tortellini with Pesto and Broccoli

Bento Box #5: Tortellini with Pesto and Broccoli
Serves 3
Ingredients

• 2 small heads of broccoli
• 1 family-sized packet of tortellini
• 3 tbsp pesto
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• handful of cherry tomatoes
• pine nuts (optional)

1. Slice the broccoli into florets and cut the tomatoes in half.
2. Cook the tortellini according to the instructions. When there are 2 minutes left on the timer, add the broccoli.
3. Drain well and pour into another bowl with the tomatoes.
4. Mix well with the pesto, balsamic vinegar and pine nuts.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Modified from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9040/tortellini-with-pesto-and-broccoli

This dish was balanced and filling - the pesto and balsamic vinegar don't overpower the vegetables and pasta. It doesn't need to be reheated before eating, which makes it great for the really hot days. I ate two of these in the car and they were delicious even when they were lukewarm. 

The only downside is that the tortellini is expensive - I'll switch it out with regular pasta next time.

Verdict: It's a keeper. 

2 heads of broccoli: $1.66 at Safeway

Packet of Tortellini: $5.29 at Safeway

Pesto, 1/10 of a jar at $3.19 = $0.32 at Safeway

Balsamic Vinegar, 1/10 of a jar at $2.95 = $0.30 at Safeway

Cherry Tomatoes: 1/5 of a carton at $2.99/carton = $0.60 at Safeway

Total Cost: $8.17 for 3 servings or $2.72 per serving

Other entries in this series:

Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago
Bento Box #2: Edamame Salad with Rice
Bento Box #3: Edamame Salad with Onigiri
Bento Box #4: Corn and Black Bean Salad