Chickpea Sunbutter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Some of the other mothers at the playground will often offer Baby Chuck cookies to eat.  I'm touched by their generosity and always feel bad saying no. Sadly, his numerous allergies prevent him from eating a lot of baked goods.

Last week I turned away some particularly delicious looking chocolate chip cookies. I could tell that Baby Chuck really wanted to try one.  So I found this recipe for Chickpea Chocolate chip cookies and was intrigued that the "dough" mostly consisted of chickpea and cashew butter.  With a couple of tweaks, I made these chickpea sunbutter oatmeal raisin cookies.

Ingredients:
(1) 1 can chickpeas
(2) 1/2 cup sunbutter
(3) 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
(4) 1/2 cup sugar
(5) 2 teaspoons vanilla
(6) sprinkle of salt
(7)1 cup raisins
(8)1 cup oats

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking sheets
(2) Blend chickpeas till smooth
(3) Add ingredients 2 through 6 and blend together
(4) Stir in ingredients 7 and 8
(5) Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets and pat down flat (cookies look the same going in and out of the oven because the dough doesn't rise)
(6) Bake 15 minutes

They weren't particularly sweet and they tasted like tiny nutrition bars.  I liked them and appreciated their high fiber content.  Hubby was used to eating normal cookies, so he wasn't a fan.  Baby Chuck on the other hand, really enjoyed them.  He quickly gobbled up one and then asked for another. 

I think we have a tiny cookie monster on our hands!

Little happy things

Here are four things that made me feel happy this past week:

1.  Hanging out with family and far-away friends

2.  Baby Chuck eating his first slice of gluten free pizza

3.  Feeling inspired by Hoboken's Arts and Crafts festival

4.   Seeing this artist's gorgeous hand-cut coin pendants

Hope you had  a good weekend too!

Crapty Fridays- Make a flower wreath out of plastic bags

When I woke up the morning of our trip to the Renaissance Faire, I realized that I hadn't planned out any costumes to wear.  Now that just would not do.  Unlike Maria, I wasn't able to quickly whip up three outfits using thick window drapes.  But, as a crapter I was able to quickly crapt two headpieces fit for a tiny king and a peasant girl.

Here's how I made the "floral" wreath:

Materials: 
- plastic bags (I used a thicker plastic bag, but I think thinner ones would have created more delicate flowers)
- scissors
- thin stretchy headband (although you could always make your own by cutting up a t-shirt)

Step 1:  Cut your plastic bag into long strips     (Baby Chuck- "Oh no!  Another crapt!")

Step 2:  Wrap the strip around your fingers.  (We're basically creating a plastic pom-pom.)

Step 3:  Slip your plastic loops off your fingers.  Tie a thin strip of plastic around the middle of your plastic loops. (Make sure that it is tightly tied so your flower petals stay put.)  Cut through the end of the loops and make rounded (or zig zag, or whatever shape you want) edges.

Step 4:  Starting on one side of the tie, pull each sheet of plastic up towards the middle.  Repeat for the other side. 

Step 5:  Tie your plastic flower onto a headband.  Make more flowers until you cover the headband.  (Note:  I ran out of time so I wasn't able to make a complete crown, but I think you get the point.)

Then I made a small crown for King Baby Chuck:

Materials:
- old cardboard cereal boxes
- tape
- aluminum foil
- stickers
- scissors
- pen
- ruler (optional)

Using a ruler I drew out one half crown.  Then, I cut it out and used it as a template to trace out another. 

I wrapped my cardboard  pieces in aluminum foil and then taped them together.  I made sure that the shiny side faced out.  I used stickers to decorate the crown.  To ensure that the crown stayed on Baby Chuck's head, I  taped a cardboard "x" inside.

Sometimes I'm so glad that Baby Chuck is only one and can't talk back.  He's pretty willing to go along with my crapty shenanigans and doesn't mind wearing trash.

Baby Chuck- "Oh mom, you're so trashy."  Me-  "Thanks!"

Tee hee hee.  I think he looked better in the crown than me.

Sun-dried tomatoes- A delicious fail

When I was at the grocery store the other day I spied a great sale on some organic tomatoes.  I couldn't help myself and promptly bought a whole bunch.  But when I got home I had no idea what to do with them. And then a crazy thought popped into my head:  I'm going to make me some sun-dried tomatoes.

Ah sun-dried tomatoes.  My mouth watered at the thought and I imagined dark eyed women with long wavy hair and colorful peasant skirts placing tomatoes out to dry.  I then imagined myself as one of them, singing in a beautiful country side. 

But who was I kidding?  I live in the city.  I'd have to lay my beautiful tomatoes out on asphalt and then fight off the gigantic rats and pigeons for a taste. 

So instead I cheated a bit.  I cut my tomatoes in half and placed them (cut side up) in a glass dish.  I drizzled a little bit of olive oil over them and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and oregano.  Then I put them in a 200 degree oven and waited... and waited... and napped... and waited...

Here's what they looked like going into the oven:

After 3 hours of baking they just looked wrinkled. 
After 6 hours of baking, a rich tomato aroma filled our apartment. 
After 10 hours of baking, they were still not quite done.  By that time I couldn't wait any longer, so I took them out and ate one.  It was tangy and delicious.
 

So you may be wondering, will I be making these again? 
Heck no. 

The next time I want to live out my pastoral Italian daydreams, I 'm just going to put on a peasant skirt and buy a container of these from the store. 

Happy Oktoberfest

I just realized that it's Oktoberfest in Germany! 

Happy Oktoberfest!  Here are some photos from a couple months back of Baby Chuck wearing a Lederhosen onseie.

 *Sigh*  I miss those little rolls of fat.

He wore it!

Even though the weather was warmer today, sweet hubby still wore a blazer (and my felt flower lapel pin) to work.

Shnazzy!

DIY Felt Flower Lapel Pin / Boutonniere

It's official!  Fall is now upon us.

With cooler temperatures rolling in, Hubby, Baby Chuck, and I are changing up our wardrobes.  We're putting on long sleeve shirts and pants, no longer shaving our legs (oh wait, that's just me- tmi?), putting on shoes instead of sandals (goodbye sandal tan), and wearing jackets.

Hubby been looking forward to fall ever since we've moved back east because he loves wearing jackets to work.  As a serious lover of all things stylish, he's also hinted that he'd love some small flowers to adorn his lapel (as seen here.)  I peeked around the internet for inspiration and then set out to make him some felt flower lapel pins.      

Here are the materials I used:
- freezer paper
- good scissors
- pencil
- felt in an assortment of colors  (*See note below) 
- iron
- hot glue gun
- bobby pin(s)
- needle and thread

*Note:  I bought cheap polyester felt from the craft store.  (30 cents a piece?  You just can't beat that price.) You would definitely get a more polished look if you purchased nicer wool felt.  We initially created these pins as mockups, thinking that we'd create real ones with wool felt later on.  But, the pins came out so nice that we just decided to use them.  How long will the pins last?  Will they quickly look ratty?  I'm not sure.  Let's see what happens once hubby starts wearing them to work.

Step 1:  I created a flower pattern that was kind of Van Cleef & Arpels meets Orla Kiely.  I traced that pattern onto freezer paper and ironed it (waxy side down) to adhere the paper to my felt.  This process make it easier to cleanly cut my tiny felt shapes out.  (Special thanks to Make It Cozee for the tip!)

Step 2:  I cut out my flower shapes, circle shapes (flower centers), and square shapes (flower backs).

Step 3:  I used a hot glue gun  (it was my first time using one!!!) to glue the squares onto the flowers.  I did this so that my flowers pins would feel a bit more substantial, since I used cheapy felt.  Plus, I didn't want my stitches (step 4) to be visible. 

Step 4:  After the glue dried, I sewed a bobby pin to each square, making sure to not sew through the front of the flower.

Step 5:  I hot glued a circle to each flower to complete my little garden of felt flower lapel pins.

Here's how the pin looks on hubby's jacket.  I just slipped the bobby pin through the lapel buttonhole.  (Note:  I had to cut the hole first because it was sewn shut.)

I think the pins came out super cute and add just the right touch of whimsy.  They'll definitely spruce up hubby's work outfit.  Hmm, but why stop at just work outfits?  I bet these little guys would also look really cute as wedding boutonnieres too... don't you think? 

NY Renaissance Faire

When I was younger, I dressed up as a tree nymph for Halloween, read a lot of fantasy novels, and dabbled in Dungeons and Dragons.  This past weekend I relived my geeky past when we visited the NY Renaissance Faire.  It was fantastic seeing people in costumes and experiencing a bit of make believe and fantasy with hubby and Baby Chuck.

Crapty Fridays- T-shirt scarf (and ugly necklace)

Ok, let me just preface this post with this warning:
Warning!  This crapt ended up looking like crap.

Hubby had a t-shirt with a hole in the armpit, so instead of tossing it out (or using it as a rag), I cut it up and created a multi-strand scarf.

Step 1:  I cut the shirt across the armpit and then I cut off the bottom hem.

Step 2:  Then, I cut horizontal strips about 1inch in width.  I made sure to stop about an inch from the left seam so that I was left with connected loops.

Step 3:  I stretched the shirt.  Does this count as exercising?  (Note:  I didn't really stretch it with my foot.  This was just my way of showing it being stretched while using both hands to take a photo. )

Step 4:  My almost finished scarf- I decided not to sew a strap of fabric around all the loops  (Note:  Make sure you cut the strands about the same width in step 2.  Otherwise you end up with different size loops like I did.)

I wasn't too impressed with my resulting scarf, so I ended up cutting the loops up to create very long strands.  But what to do with them?  I fiddled and braided and ended up making this necklace:

I was trying to make something that looked a bit bohemian, but it ended up just looking... well... crapty.  Hubby said it resembled a noose.   

Ok, the scarf looked alright, but the necklace was definitely a dud.  But that's the joy of crapting!  It was bound for the trash anyway, so not to worry.  (Hmm, maybe I should have labeled this post as an anti-DIY?)

Hope you have a great weekend.  Baby Chuck and I are really looking forward to having hubby around.

Guess what?

Baby Chuck made a new (furry) best friend.

P9165868.AVI from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

We're slowly entering toddlerhood- eep!

P9165844.AVI from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

Bronx Zoo

Last weekend we celebrated the birthday of a very sweet 2-year old by going to the Bronx Zoo.  It was a lovely cool day with sunny blue skies.  Hubby and I tried to take lots of photos of the animals, but honestly some of my favorite photos were the ones that we took of family.

 This final photo cracks me up.  

By the end both boys were completely zonked from all the fun.