Wholesome Oat Muffins

 These tasty muffins are so much better than store-bought, you'll want to bake a supply regularly. Make a double batch and freeze half for later.

1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons rolled oats
1 1/4 cups whole-grain pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup granular brown sugar substitute
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 425F. Coat a 12 cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In a small bowl, combine buttermilk and 3/4 cup of the oats. Let soak for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in walnuts.

In a large bowl, stir together brown sugar substitute, oil, egg and vanilla until well blended. Stir in oat mixture. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons oats over muffins. Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins to the rack to cool completely.

Be who you are and say what you feel: 
because those who mind don't matter 
and those who matter don't mind. ~ Dr. Seuss

Felt Tissue Holder

I'm one of those women who cry at just about anything - happy, sad, sentimental, etc. I'm sensitive and feel things deeply. This is not a trait I'm really happy having. The sensitive thing yes - the crying no. I always carry a hanky but it doesn't stand up to my waterworks and is soon useless. So I carry a little package of tissues with me always. But they are boring looking, so I made this little holder for my purse.

I liked it so much I made a second one for my tote bag!

They are just some felt, pinking scissors, a sewing machine (although you could hand stitch it) and a little hot glue to hold the heart on. I think they look really cute! Oh it cost me $1.00 for two new packs of tissues, I had the felt and glue on hand.

Cocoa-Raspberry Shake

Yum! This delicious shake is allowed on my current phase of the South Beach Diet. It's been so hot that I haven't wanted to turn the stove on and cook. So we've been making do with simple stove top cooking (how I wish I had the space for a grill) and salads. I thought we deserved a cool treat!

Blend 1/2 cup fat-free milk, 1/2 cup artificially sweetened nonfat or low-fat raspberry yogurt, 1 packet sugar substitute, and 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder until frothy.

The review: I had to top mine with 1 teaspoon of fat-free frozen topping and a sprinkle of cocoa powder. Mine didn't froth, but I used a stick blender instead of a stand blender, so that might be the difference. Well, believe it or not I couldn't find artificially sweetened raspberry yogurt at the store, so I used cherry, but I like cherry better anyway. There is a hint of the artificial sweetener taste of the yogurt in the drink. Not bad, but noticeable. Next time I'll try a different brand of yogurt. I can only imagine how yummy this would be with sugar sweetened yogurt! (But that defeats the purpose of the South Beach diet). I didn't think 1 teaspoon of cocoa would give it enough of a chocolate taste, but I was wrong. It was nice rich and chocolatey. I also didn't have packets of sugar substitute so I used 1 tablespoon of Splenda. This is a smooth, creamy treat that doesn't taste like I should be eating it! I will definitely make this one again.

A ship in harbor is safe -
but that is not what ships are built for.

- John A. Shedd

Organizing the Craft/Sewing Closet - Before

With my son's permission and help I recently cleared some space out of his 2nd closet for my fabric storage. Now I will have more room and can better organize my craft/sewing closet. I actually started the process of moving the fabric, forgot to take pictures, put everything back and then took pictures. You really need to see the before of my craft closet to appreciate the after.

The closet is so full that I have two kitchen garbage bags of fabric I think I don't want in the basement storage locker to try to sell on Etsy. My sewing machine doesn't fit, neither does my iron and ironing board. Outside the closet I also have a stack of fabric about 2 feet high which is my home dec fabric for current projects that I have no place to put. Not to mention that in cleaning out my son's closet I now have a stack of art supplies to add to my craft closet. I have another piece of foam for a chair project behind the closet door that you can't see. Oh yes, and a large box of sewing notions that I keep out with my sewing machine. Plus my cutting mat, rulers and rotary cutter. Darn, also my glue gun, an old ashtray I use as a stand and extra glue sticks. I think that is about it. Nope, still outside the closet I also have a bunch of polymer clay and a conditioning machine I won as a door prize at the recent Chicago Craft Social. Oh yes, I also have a stack of phone books. When I sit at the dining room table to sew, my chair is too tall and my feet don't touch the floor so I can't run my sewing machine. I stack phone books under the pedal so I can sew and my other foot so I don't sit crooked. Oh yeah, one last thing. I have two sewing/quilting/applique projects started that are sitting under a dresser in my bedroom. Now I really think that's it that's not in the closet. Shoot, no its not. I also have extra pillow forms down in the storage locker. And not that it necessarily has to be in this closet, but I have a bin of upholstery supplies down in the storage locker also. It's a pain to go down and get zippers or cording or my staple gun.

So as you can see and hear, my closet has exploded with stuff all over my condo and storage locker with nowhere organized to put it. And remember, this is only my storage closet. I have to take things out, set them up and actually craft on the dining room table. So when its so difficult to get to the supplies and put them away again, I don't craft. And I get grumpy. Something has to be done.  Hopefully strategic organization yet accessibility is the key. This is my biggest organizational challenge yet! I'll be working on it over the next several weeks. Wish me luck!

Business Card Holder

I have these cute calling cards that I had made up. They come in very handy when meeting new people and giving them my contact information. Or when I'm talking about my blog to someone and they want to go check it out. My problem has been that I just had them shoved into my wallet. When I would dig them out, all my other wallet items were displayed. I knew I could do better.

I saw a couple tutorials on how to make business card holders here and here. I used the tutorials as a jumping off point and added a 3rd fabric for more color and ended up with this:

I was worried that the cards would fall out and spill all over my purse. Or that I would need some velcro to hold it closed. Although a velcro dot might still be useful. But the fit is snug and they aren't going anywhere. The project was simple and quick. It took me longer to get my sewing stuff out and set up on the dining room table then it did to sew the holder! I just love that fabric color combination.

The project was basically free. The fabrics were scraps from my stash and the interfacing from another project. I'm very pleased with how it turned out!

Linking up to some of these great parties!