Cheeseburger Cups with Homemade Biscuits

Happy Friday!  It's been quite the week weather-wise here.  We started the week with -50 windchills.  Today it's supposed to rain.  Iowa is weird.

I'm blogging about the weather.  Oh, boy.  I have projects for next week.  Pinky swear.  And my Christmas tree might be down then.  Bonus.

Today I'd like to share with you an update to one of our  favorite quick and easy dinner recipes, Cheeseburger Cups.

Nate and I have been trying to eliminate processed food from our diet. (We're not clean eaters.  We like flour.  We like ketchup.  We just want our food to no longer come in a box, bag or can.)  We've done fairly well over the past 4 months or so.  The problem is that like all good people from the Midwest, we like our comfort food.  We were missing our cheeseburger cups.  The problem with our old cheeseburger cups is that they are made with refrigerated biscuits.  Although delicious, the biscuits don't really fit well into our new eating plan.

The other night we decided to make them using our favorite baking powder biscuits.  (We also shred our own cheese now instead of buying the packaged stuff.)  Nate and I figured there was no way they would taste as good.  Turns out we both thought they were better.  Yay for real food.  

Enjoy this easy dinner idea!

Be sure to check out our "cook it" page for more recipes!

Hope your weekend is fabulous!  We have plans to help a friend with her nursery and get our house in order. See you Monday!

Super Mustache Pillow Cover {Easy Sew Envelope Pillow}

I decided that beings my Christmas tree is still up, let's talk about a Christmas gift today.  Seems fitting.

My brother was in desperate need of pillows for his living room couch.  He's also a nerdy hipster wannabe like his sister so I thought some easy sew pillows with way too many mustaches seemed like a fitting handmade gift idea for him.  (That was a really long sentence.)

Totally adorable (I mean, manly) nerdy hipster, right?  I thought so.

More importantly, Ike approved. 

(Side note: Ike got a pretty bad hair cut right after these photos were taken.  Ike misses his fur. I miss his super furry face. HE'S SO FLUFFY!!!)

Ike was happy to assist me in the pillow making because he has a special relationship with his uncle.  They get each other. 

Oh, brother.  Someday he'll earn that Christmas card photos go faster if you stop messing around.  But then again, we wouldn't have this gem if he behaved.  

Back to the pillow making.  Through many rounds of trial and error, I have finally mastered the art of pillow cover making in under 10 minutes.  Seriously.  You can sew a pillow case in the same amount of time it takes to make macaroni and cheese.

Warning: this tutorial is super technical. And by super technical I mean that it is totally not at all.

First you need to cut your fabric to a size that correctly fits your pillow.  You don't want it too loose or too tight.  I err on the side of tight because I hate sloppy pillows.  

To determine the size of fabric I grab my pillow form (or whatever old pillow I'm covering) and my fabric.  I fold one end about half way on the pillow.  I fold the other end up and determine where to cut across.  I leave about a 3" overlap for the "envelope" on the back of the pillow.

To determine how wide to cut the pillow, I leave a small amount (1/4"ish) on each side.  Again, err on the side of tight.

After those wonderful instructions that make total sense, you should haven something like this.

You will need to hem each short end.  I fold under about 1", iron and sew a straight line.  The hard part of sewing isn't actually sewing. It's the dumb cutting.  Seriously.

Once both ends are hemmed, you fold the fabric right sides together.  I place my fabric next to the pillow and use the pillow as a guide for the size. Make sure to leave the 3"ish overlap.  (FYI, whatever hemmed side you put on the bottom will actually be on the top of the back of the pilllow.)

Pin and sew along both sides (I use a 1/4" seam allowance).  Fold inside out.  Bam!  Pillow cover sewn.  Look at you!

Now that your cover is sewn, you can add a mustache (or whatever your heart desires) on the front on the pillow.  I don't have a fancy cutting device so I go the old school route.  Google "mustache clip art".  Print one you like.  Trace it onto some Heat n' Bond.  Apply following Heat n' Bond's instructions.  (Once you trace and cut out your mustache, you will peel back the paper back backing and apply with an iron.)

Mustache pillow complete.

Ike says he mustache you a question.  "Do you like his mustache pillow?"

You knew I couldn't go a whole post without the mustache line, right?

2014 Goals

I'm starting 2014 today.  Why?

1. Because my New Year up to this point has been lame.  I backed Nate's car into the garage and busted his driver's side rear view mirror. (Thankfully, that is all.)  I then proceeded to get that awesome stomach virus that the rest of the world had before me.  Awesome.  

2. Who starts a new year on a Wednesday?  The only thing I am ready for on Wednesday is a nap.  I'm totally not ready for a whole new year.

Happy 2014!  Since it's the new year today I'm totally not behind on the 2013 recap and 2014 goals.  (Don't tell me otherwise.)

I was going to do a round up of our best posts from 2013.  That seemed like a lot of work (and I was bored with my Feedly last week) so I HIGHLY encourage you to check out the new archives tab at the top of the blog.  From there you can select 2013 and choose your own favorite.  There is also now an archive for all blog posts.  We lost that in the transfer and now it's back!  I've also updated a few of the other tabs and I added a "pin it" button that actually works.  Wait.  I'm killing it in 2014.

Now that the extended 2013 is behind us.  It's time to focus on our home and life goals for 2014.

Goal 1. Take down the Christmas decor.  Our house still looks like this (minus the presents under the tree).  It's January 6th.  I'm hoping to complete this by... February.  Let's not rush things.  That tree is large.  

Goal 2. Fix Nate's car window.  I want to DIY this but suppose I should take it to a professional.

Goal 3. Add built-ins to the the living room and spruce up the mantel.  This will be our first major project for 2014.  We are still trying to figure out what we want to do for the fireplace/mantel.  The book shelves are designed.  I am wanting to do more in terms of actual furniture building this year.  Nate and I are just deciding if it's worth the potential ER costs.  (See above Goal 1 for photo.  See goal 2 for concerns about me touching power tools.)

Goal 4. Finish the office.  You may remember that the office was on my list of house plans for 2013.  Zero progress has been made in this room.  It actually wish it looked this orderly now.  We have plans to purchase a sectional and paint the walls.  Any color suggestions?  I'm torn between light and dark.  We'll also need some new curtains and some art work.  This room continues to baffle me on how to make it presentable.

Goal 5. Update our living room decor/furniture.  Goal 3 will more than likely spawn more changes in the living room so I'm going to go ahead and include them.  We have a couple of ideas for DIY coffee tables/end tables.  I'll probably find a new rug. I want something  a little more neutral.  I'll wait to tell Nate until I sell this one on Craigslist.  The living room just doesn't have that modern yet antiquey farmhouse feel that the rest of the first floor is sporting.  It still looks very JcPenney catalog to me.  The couches will stay because they are molded to our hineys.  I would love a leather side chair if I can find one for the right price.

6. Clean up the mudroom ceiling.  Nate and I have weekly arguments about updating the mudroom ceiling.  I think it needs beadboard, crown molding and a school house light.  He thinks it's just fine.

Gross.  There goes my blog resolution of not posting crappy photos.

Goal 7. Build a work bench in the garage.  We need a place to work, yo.  

Extra lofty goals: Add crown molding to the master bedroom and powder room.   Rip up the carpet and install wood floors in the bedroom.  Work on our mess of a basement.

As for personal goals, Nate has none.  He doesn't make goals.  Until I told him mine.  

My New Year's resolution/goal is to stop putting little things off that end up making me feel all stressed and wigged out.  For example, I am going to stop walking over those boxes in the garage and thinking that I should do something about them and just take them to the stupid recycling.  I will not let our pantry become a mess because it is the product of 1000 "I'll do it laters."  I feel like this doable.  Annoying.  But doable.

Ike has decided to bark more at the poodle across the street and relax more. He's totally showing 2014 who is boss.

Are you a resolution maker?  Are your Christmas decorations still up?