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more bread

The other day while we were iChatting with my parents, M pulled the bananas off of the counter and opened four of them. I’ve been itching to make something out of Deceptively Delicious because I love hiding good-for-you stuff in my cooking, so I decided to try the banana bread. It called for 1 1/2 cups banana and 1/2 cup cauliflower purees. Surprisingly, four bananas doesn’t make a lot of puree and I didn’t have any frozen cauliflower on hand, so I microwaved a sweet potato to make up the difference. I was a little worried being so adventurous, but it was sweet potato, after all.

bread

The bread turned out fabulous. It smelled so good it was hard to wait for it too cool. I immediately ate two slices and could eat more. I’m not planning to tell T about the sweet potato until he tries it. We’ll see if he can tell. This one has 1/2 cup of sugar in it, so he should be happy. (My zucchini bread wasn’t sweet enough for him.) It also has a good bit of whole wheat flour in it. I’ll definitely be making this again, even if I am the only one who eats it.

UPDATE: T and M both LOVE the bread. T wasn’t even phased by the sweet potato. I’ve trained him well.

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etsy shop was a little empty

My etsy items are at a craft open house today and are hopefully being sold. (Details on Christy’s blog.) The shop was looking a little bare, and I couldn’t figure out which sweater to sew up next, so I decided to let you pick your own. All the details can be found here.

custom

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i think i need to knit a square or something

I’m not sure what else to do. The shootings in Omaha have knocked the wind out of our sails. Knitting squares seemed to help last time. How about I just post some pictures of last Sunday in the gallery and call it a day?

tree

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mmm… bread

bread

We’ve been doing a lot of bread and muffins around here. M likes to eat bread and I like to hide nutritious stuff in the loaves. It makes me smile when she’s chowing down on a slice bread and ignoring all of her other vegetables because I know it’s filled with zucchini, carrots and yogurt. Yesterday I made mini pumpkin muffins, which I thought she would adore because she loves pumpkin pie, but she’s totally not interested in them. The zucchini bread, however, is a different story. So far we’ve been through three loaves and she still devours it.

I’ve been making the Zucchini Cheddar Quick Bread recipe from The All Purpose Joy of Cooking with some modifications (of course!). No cheese, extra zucchini, two grated carrots, 1/4 cup plain yogurt, olive oil instead of butter and substituting wheat flour for 1/3 of the white flour. I also used dried dill, onion and garlic powder. T was bummed I didn’t make the more traditional zucchini bread recipe. You know the one that’s really sweet and uses 2 1/2 cups of sugar? I’d never get M down for a nap after a slice of that!

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bella bib

I know most kids get a mustache while drinking their milk, but M gets a goatee. She sucks in a bunch of milk from her sippy cup, smiles, and lets it dribble down her chin. This is why she is only allowed to drink in her chair with a bib. (I thought after the first few months of nursing we were done with smelling like milk around here. Who knew?)

Anyway, we have this one quilted bib that is perfect for catching all of the goatee dribbles. One. I needed more and couldn’t find any big and absorbent enough for full coverage, so I made one of my own.

bib

The back of the bib is terry cloth from bath towel. This should be absorbent enough, don’t you think?

bib

I’m happy with the size, but I bought some fat quarters of cute fabric from Michael’s and would like to get two bibs out of one piece. Right now this bib is just a little too big for that, so I’ve got some scaling and redrawing to do. I’ve got some real work to do this week, so I guess the bib will have to wait until the weekend.

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tote bags for sale at kundhicreative.etsy.com!

So that thing that I’ve been working on for the past few weeks? It’s now up and ready to go! I’ve been making tote bags—some out of felted sweaters and others out of shirts. Christy was kind enough to invite me to a craft fair last week, which gave me a deadline to get some things produced. I didn’t sell anything that night, but I did make my first sale on Saturday. Cathy of Lincoln Knitters was my first customer and bought one of my favorite totes.

tote

lining

I actually gave away my first tote to my knitting exchange buddy, Yvonne.

tote

lining

I’m trying to be environmentally thrifty with my totes. All are made out of sweaters or shirts that might otherwise end up in the landfill. The leftover felt and fabric will be used up in scarves and maybe hats or blankets. I’m also sewing the shirt tote bags large enough to carry groceries or library books.

I’m really excited about this project. I still love graphic design and it is definitely my primary passion, but technology (specifically the pdf file) has pretty much taken all of the hand work out of my job. I miss comping up folders, brochures, envelopes, boxes and direct mail packages. I also still love knitting, but it’s just not going fast enough for me these days. The tote bags combine my love for creating things by hand and the instant gratification I’ve been craving.

So, that’s why the blog has been quiet: I’ve been pushing to get some things done and up on etsy. I’ve got lots more sweaters and shirts to keep me busy for awhile.

I also take requests for custom orders. If you’ve got something you love and it never gets worn, let me give it new life for you! I also do pillows, Christmas stockings and I’m thinking of trying felted sweater teddy bears.

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more squares

squares

I was only going to knit one. I even wrote that in my email to Kay: I’ll try to get at least one square done before the 30th. I’ve got UFOs coming out of the woodwork. Why do I keep casting on new projects? Another case of hopeless startitis? I’m on my FOURTH square. They’re just too easy and too fun. They take less than an episode of CSI to knit up and besides, what else am I going to do with my leftover sock yarn. After this one, I’m putting them in an envelope and sending them off. Seriously!

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sew easy!

When my parents were here, Liz came over for a sewing lesson to teach me how to read and follow a pattern. Liz is a great teacher and VERY patient. My first project was a sleep sack for M.

Yeah, I know it’s huge. It’s the XL size for this winter. Liz helped me all the way up to the zipper and then left me to finish it up on my own. I was very proud of myself, until I realized I sewed the sleeves shut! That was a quick fix, though. I added a little flap to cover the zipper top. I’m going to order a different zipper for the other one so it will close on the bottom.

This was a pretty easy project, especially for a beginner. I can’t wait to tackle the next one. I’ve also been making some tote bags and bibs. Don’t worry knitting buddies — I haven’t given up my needles!

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nancy j. needs your help

I recently received an email from Nancy J. in Omaha whose friend is stationed in Afghanistan and is looking for hats, mittens, scarves, sweaters and blankets for children who don’t have warm clothing. She’s hoping that some folks who knit, crochet or sew could dig around in their stashes and make something to help keep these kids warm.

afghan

She sends a box or two a month and will be doing this for the next 15 months or so. She also sends over things like backpacks, pens, notebooks, rulers, pencils, crayons, coloring books, calculators, soccer balls and footballs (deflated), hackey sacks, yo-yos, jax sets, beanie babies, and thermoses for water.

afghan

Oh, and the warm clothing doesn’t have to be handmade, so if you’re not crafty, but still want to send something warm, that’s ok, too.

afghan

I’m going to dig in the stash and make some hats. If you’d like to coordinate with Nancy J. and send some items, you can reach her at janousek2 (at) cox (dot) net. Or leave me a comment and I’ll email you her cell phone number.

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curried lentils + spinach

We’re busy getting ready for my parents’ visit. The basement is finished! All that is left for us to do before they get here is set up the bed. Last night we cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed the carpet. It’s amazing how easy new bathrooms are to clean! It’s also amazing how you can vacuum a carpet over and over and still find bits of construction stuff. I think we are going to have to vacuum one more time before M can go downstairs and play.

Nancy requested the Curried Lentils and Spinach recipe. This originally came from somewhere on the Internet, but I modified it beyond recognition. I guess it’s fair to call it a Kundhi original now. Teresa, if you liked the Saag at House of India, you are going to LOVE this!

1-1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced (or more if you like garlic!)
1 lb bag of lentils, picked through and rinsed
1 10-oz pkg chopped spinach, thawed
6 cups of water (or chicken/veggie stock)
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes

Sauté the onion in a little oil until it starts to get brown around the edges. Add the garlic and sauté another two minutes. Combine with all of the other ingredients except the tomatoes in your crock pot. Cook until lentils are tender. Stir in can of tomatoes and serve with plain yogurt if you like. (I’d like some yogurt, but can’t have it yet. Soon I hope!)

This makes a lot, but freezes really well.