Black Bean and Bulgur Sloppy Joe's

     IMG_0540 And that's how I know that this is a winner. IMG_0499As an awesome aunt, when I have any of my nieces or nephews,  I feel the need to make something special for dinner, something that the kiddos might not get very often, but also keep it on he healthy side. I have 2 littles for the night which gives me the perfect opportunity for a trash food recipe. You know trash food, things like boxed mac and cheese, beefaroni in a can, or, in this case, sloppy joes.

Sloppy yes, trashy, not so much. These are made with beans and bulgur. No meat.

And I figured it is nice enough out that I can make the kiddos some messy food and then just bring them out back and hose them off… I mean, why not right?

IMG_0475The stuff… We start with onion and green pepper, chopped into pieces. Black beans, bulgur, can crushed tomatoes. Chili powder, garlic powder, a bit o apple cider vinegar (which I forgot to picture) ,and some salt and pepper. Oh and cheese if you want… Plus a bun of some sort is necessary.IMG_0490     IMG_0493 Toss the chopped onion and peppers into a deep skillet or pot with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until tender and toss in the spices. Give a stir. Add in the beans, bulgur, and tomato, a splash of vinegar. Stir it all up, cover, and let simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the bulgur has absorbed the liquid and is nice and tender.

If you are a bun toaster… toast while waiting. If not, just get the buns readyIMG_0504 And Then dump a good heaping pile right onto a bun. Add some cheese, or not..and eat with wild abandonment,  making sure to get as much on your face as you get in you mouth. 

Fantastic Friday!! Live it up. 

-C

Black Bean and Bulgur Sloppy Joes 

  • 2 cups or 1 can cooked black beans
  • 1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup bulgur
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • salt and pepper
  • a splash of apple cider vinegar
  • olive oil
  • 4-6 burger or bulky buns
  • cheese (optional)

Dice the onion and the pepper and toss with a drizzle of olive oil into a large skillet. Sauté on medium heat until veggies become tender. Add in the spices, stir in and let cook for a minutes, then add in the beans, the tomato,water and the bugler. Cover skillet and let simmer until bugler becomes soft.

When the slop is ready, either toasted or not, scoop a generous portions onto buns. If so inclined, add some cheese. 

Eat with hands… Sloppy is good.

DIY Marbled Watercolor Stained Glass

IMG_3084I don't know if I have bitched enough about it, but I only have one window in my living space. And as much as I love love love our little tiny loft, I am a person who needs the sun. So when I am home I spend a lot of time siting in front of the window.  Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of watercolor painting in front of that window and somehow  between drawings of carrots and  vintage fans, I ended up making these marbled window stained glass hoops. And I am glade I did because these little watercolor gems really do make a big impact on my one source of sunlight. Even when the day is kind of gray and gloomy, having these in the window make the light seem brighter and happy. 

We can all use a bright happy window.

IMG_2825So this project is really easy and fast. I recommend that if you are going to go to the trouble (it's really no trouble) of making one, you might as well make 2 or 5. I actually made a bunch (think Mothers day or Easter presents) and ended up only keeping a s couple. I am going to have to make a few more soon.

You will need-

  • Watercolors 
  • water
  • paintbrush
  • Sketch paper*
  • A pan or tray with a bit of water 
  • Embroidery Circles * (As many as you want to make)

*Notes

  • -I tried to use a few different types of paper and found that the sketch works the best. Watercolor paper was a bit to thick and printer paper just kept ripping.
  • -You can buy embroidery circles at any craft store and they usually have a good variety of sizes. Use the sizes that you like.

IMG_2830Take a piece(s) of paper a little bit bigger then the hoop you are working with and stick it into a pan or tray of water. Let it sit there for a few minutes until the paper is completely soaked.IMG_2832Take the wet paper and, oh so gently, crumple into a ball. This part can be a little tricky. You want to make as many creases as possible without ripping that paper. (I ripped a few pieces) I found that if I folded that paper a few time, then crumpled that it was less likely to rip.

IMG_2850Uncrumple the paper and lay it gently onto the inner part of the hoop. Now the fun part. Go to town with the watercolors. I used 2 colors per piece, but you could do 1 or 3, or more. When applying the color, use big gentle strokes and let the colors kind of meld together. Watch as all the crumple veins soak up the paint. Try using different dilutions of color. I applied some color on thinly and some on the thicker side. But really, you can't go wrong, just keep applying paint until you are happy. I stopped a few times and held it up to the window just to see what it looked like. When it looked good, I was done.

IMG_2844When you are happy with the colors, let the paper dry for a while on the hoop  until it is not longer super wet. I would say about an hour or so, but if you stick it near the heater, it might dry faster. (Just don't stick it in the oven while you are making bread like I did with one.. It just ended up setting on fire. Oops)

Once its pretty much dry, take the outer ring of the hoop and gently place around the inner hoop and tighten. Being super careful, trim the extra paper from the back of the hoop.IMG_3089

Place your pieces in a window and watch them glow.  Yow now have a happy window.

-C

Paper Wreaths

IMG_3884This one is good.  How can a pile of scrap paper make me so happy? Tuning it into a lovely round wreath of pretty is how. I love me a good wreath. I usually make one every year out of the scraps from our Christmas tree. We don't have out tree yet and I needed  a little something to holiday up the room..Enter the coolest easiest paper wreath! Bonus, this is a very kid friendly project, a 2-year-old even made one.(Dont let that stop you as an adult from making one) And not just for Christmas.. Wreaths can be for any holiday or even a normal day. Pretty doesn't discriminate. I'll keep it short and sweet.

Materials

  • Card board
  • 2 different colors of contraction paper or cardstock
  • scissors
  • glue(Glue sticks are the best)

IMG_4603Get you stuff together.. I did most of the cutting for myself and the littlest little. Not that I didn't trust the 2 year old with the scissors. We only had three pairs of scissors to work with.

IMG_4616Step 1

Cut circles out of cardboard.Trace a big bowl or something round and smaller circle for the middle. Do any size you want and don't worry about it being perfect.. It doesn't matter,

IMG_4624Step 2

Cut colored paper into pieces.. 1-2 inches and these also don't have to be perfect. I recommend using at least 2 different colors. We voted on green, I wanted to do pink and purple. ITs ok, I was a good sport. I am just going to make more later, with lots of fun colors and maybe even some glitter!!!! Oh do I love the holidays!

IMG_4644IMG_4643

Step 3

Starting from the outer circle, start gluing paper. Yup, you guessed it, doesn't have to be perfect. Look at the little go!

IMG_4655Continue to overlap paper in rings until you get to the inner circle. Once you get to the inner circle, either cut extra or fold over left over paper .

IMG_4657Step four

Embellish if you want. I like it simple, a nice contrasting color, festive and lalalala. This is also a good time to add a hanging device on the back. You can loop a piece of paper or use a piece of string.

IMG_4736

Guess which one I did and the 2 year old did…I bet you would be surprised. IMG_4756 Aren't these amazing! The most perfect paper wreaths. I had a blast doing this, I bet you will too.