DIY Nursery Letter Canvases

Last summer, I found the perfect project for Luca's nursery. Although, when I originally made these fabric-covered canvases, I thought we might name our son Joey, and luckily Luca has the same number of letters!!

This is so easily customizable for your baby's room colors!

These letters make me so happy when I walk into his nursery :)

Supplies I used:

-- Fabric in coordinating grays, from fatquartershop.com (I bought 1/2 yard of each and had plenty to complete this project as well as the bunting project seen here: http://bit.ly/1gyVwcs)

-- wooden letters, from Michael's

-- blue acrylic paint for the letters (Martha Stewart brand)

-- coordinating blue ribbon

-- 8 x 10 artist canvases - I bought the bulk four pack to make it affordable, with a Michael's 40% off coupon too!)

-- Mod-Podge and paintbrush

-- iron

-- hot glue gun

How I Did it:

1. Iron fabric, then measure it against the canvas to cut the right size.

2. Mod-Podge the front of the canvas and lay the fabric over the front and smooth it out.

3. On the back of the canvas, use the hot glue gun to secure the fabric to the back.

4. Add painted letters and ribbon, hang and enjoy!

Nursery decals from etsy shop NurserydecalsNmore, shop here: http://etsy.me/No8FJZ

The customized canvases and bunting I made will also double as decor at little guy's baptism in a few weeks too!

What's Cooking? Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce!

On a whim a few weeks ago I bought the latest issue of Food Network magazine. There were a few recipes that looked yummy and I was determined to actually cook one. How many times have I bought a magazine only for it to sit there with no recipes cooked from it? Not this time! 

I'd never made an alfredo sauce from scratch, but oh my goodness, it was so easy! (And tasty too!)

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

So few ingredients, so much yum!

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter and pumpkin smell so good together while cooking.

The sauce is coming together!

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

It smelled amazing.

4. Serve with a yummy Cesar salad! And, dinner. Delicious.

This is fall goodness on a plate!

We will definitely be making this recipe again this fall. It was so easy and fast (about 20 minutes total) and so delicious. Joe was also a fan.  Later in the week I made a plain alfredo sauce to go with some other pasta with the leftover cream. I think I prefered the pumpkin version. Thanks, Food Network!

Full Text:

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

4. Serve.

What's Cooking? Chicken Tikka Masala!

I think the first time I had Indian food I was with my friend Jen in Davis, which was only a few years ago. I have no idea it took me until my late-20s to try Indian cuisine (I must have been afraid it was "spicy" or something). 

Meanwhile, Indian food turns out to be something Joe and I enjoy together quite a bit. He's introduced me to some of the most delicious hole-in-the-wall places in San Francisco, and one of our favorite Indian places is right near us. We found Curry Up Now at a "Off the Grid" food truck night and found out they had a brick-and-mortar restaurant selling delicious Indian street food in downtown San Mateo. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Our very favorite Indian dish? Chicken Tikka Masala.

Anyway, I did not intend this to be a review of Curry Up Now, but rather, a story of how I was inspired by Trader Joe's delicious frozen Indian food to find a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. Chicken Tikka Masala is amusing because it was invented in England and is the national dish of the United Kingdom (well, if you believe Wikipedia). Again, I digress.

On Pinterest a few months back, I found a recipe for Chicken Tikki Masala in the Crock Pot. Hallalujah! Real Simple's version as pinned on pinterest.com.

I adapted my recipe to fit the ingredients I had at home (like, I don't have garam masala at home, though I'm sure plenty of my neighbors do!) 

~All my ingredients ready for the crock pot! ~

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

What You Need:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped (I use sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced already in my refrigerator)

approximately 3 tablespoons of garam masala mixture (recipe follows)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I had chicken breast tenders, I used those)

1 cup heavy cream (more/less for correct coloring of sauce at the end)

Garam masala mixture (this is already doubled and should be enough for the recipe)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I like to mix this in a small bowl and can make more using the same proportions.

What to Do:

1. Add everything but chicken and cream into the slow cooker, avoiding splashing the sides (to avoid burning).
2. Lay chicken pieces on top.

~My chicken tenders ready to slow-cook in a tomato bath!~

3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. (I usually do high heat and leave it "warming" until it's time to add the cream.)

4. Just before serving, remove chicken from the sauce and stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to sauce. Add more cream or tomato paste if it's too pale in color or to taste. (In this case, I added a bit more tomato paste and a touch of cream to cut the tangy tomato taste).

~Ready for the rice~

5. Serve with basmati rice.

I like to serve this with the Trader Joe's palak paneer (spinach and cheese dish) and basmati rice. I had forgotten to cook the basmati rice, so I microwaved some instant brown rice instead! (Basmati definitely tastes better though.) I also heated up some Naan (not surprisingly, also from Trader Joe's.)

~Yummy dinner!~

Printable Version:

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

What You Need:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped (I use sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced already in my refrigerator)

approximately 3 tablespoons of garam masala mixture (recipe follows)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I had chicken breast tenders, I used those)

1 cup heavy cream (more/less for correct coloring of sauce at the end)

Garam masala mixture (this is already doubled and should be enough for the recipe)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I like to mix this in a small bowl and can make more using the same proportions.

What to Do:

1. Add everything but chicken and cream into the slow cooker, avoiding splashing the sides.
2. Lay chicken pieces on top.

3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.

4. Just before serving, remove chicken from the sauce and stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to sauce. 

5. Serve with basmati rice.