Broccoli and Cheese Macaroni

Yet another snow day inspired venture, today I give you Broccoli and Cheese Macaroni.  Basically homemade mac and cheese add broccoli (so creative, I know.)  But nothing says "winter day" to me than a hot bowl of Mac-n-Cheese. The broccoli addition is so that I don't feel as guilty about the butter and cream used to make the cheese sauce.  So after a long day of playing in the snow, treat yourself to this yummy favorite!

Broccoli and Cheese Mac

4 tbs. Butter

1 box elbow macaroni

1 block of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

3tbs flour

11/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 onion diced

two large heads of broccoli

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325, bring 6cups of water to a boil and add noodles.  While the noodles are cooking, sauté the onions and broccoli in 2tbs of butter.  Once the onions have sweat and the broccoli is tender, about ten minutes, remove the veggie mix and place into a large bowl.  Set aside.

Put the remaining 2tbs of butter in the same sauté pan you cooked the veggies in and melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Once the butter has melted, add 3 tbs of flour.  Slowly whisk in the cream and add 1/2 of the shredded cheddar.  Keep stirring until the sauce thickens and remove from heat.

The noodles should be cooked by now, not too firm.  Not too soggy.  Drain the noodles and add to the bowl with the broccoli mix.

Mix all of this together and pour into a large flat pan (cake or lasagna, whatever you have will work.) Sprinkle remaining cheese over the entire casserole and place in the oven for fifteen minutes or until cheese is browned.  Serve to anyone who needs some warming up!

Baby Butt Sweaters... AKA Felted Soakers

Well, with the winter weather upon us and a super sweater sale at the local ARC Stores here in Denver, I got inspired to try a project I've been meaning to get around to...

THE BABY BUTT SWEATER

These little creations are my first attempt at fleeced wool cloth diaper covers.  The cheap, easy and loved part?  They are made from recycled wool sweaters from the thrift store.  Hard to believe, I know!  Super easy and useful.

So for this project you will need wool sweaters of any style and variety you choose.  I have made several different versions (still figuring what works best) but I will give you the basics so you can tweak it to make it your own.  The style in the picture are for newborns but the measurements can be adjusted to fit bigger kiddies too!

So with your sweater, you wash in hot water and dry twice to felt.  Once it is felted, lay the sweater flat and cut two triangles out of the front and back of the sweater, using the bottom of the sweater as the guide.  Each side should measure 13".

This picture shows the left-overs after cutting out your two triangles.

From here you simply fold up the center of the triangle to touch the waistband of the diaper then sew along the two seams.  Be sure to leave enough room for leg holes in each hem. 

Here is the front of the Butt Sweater, where I sewed the two seams to the waistband.

And here is the butt of the final product. 

Very cute!!!! So try it! A felted wool diaper cover will cost you around $35 pre-made.  The total for this soaker... $.50.  That's some serious savings.