Picnic Mats from Vintage Fabrics.

I'm really excited to announce that Born Again Creations is now in business, albeit rather belatedly. The last couple of months have been super busy with an unexpected house move but now we're unpacked and settled and I'm ready to get behind the sewing machine again.

I'm starting with some of my Picnic Mats made from vintage fabrics. There are three available at the moment, with more to come. Other items such as kids clothing and home wares are also in production so watch this space! If you'd like to purchase or place an order please see my Facebook Page. I am also taking orders for custom made picnic mats using your photos incorporated into the design. 

Thanks for looking! 

Nightgowns for Mima

I'm embracing the colder temperatures that are coming our way at the moment. I can't wait for autumn to really hit us with it's bright cool days and beautiful orange leaves. For months now I've been squirrelling away pieces of flannel fabric for some winter projects I have in mind for the kids. Today I whipped up some nightgowns for Jemima using Butterick B4910 which couldn't be simpler to sew. 3 pattern pieces and 15 minutes and she had two new winter warmies for those cold nights ahead.

The more observant among you will see that on this one the crowns are upside down. That's me trying to fit this pattern onto a too-small piece of fabric. Note to self - if you're too budget to buy the correct amount of fabric don't get one with a repetitive print!

Gluten Free, Vegan, No Cheese Cheesy Bake.

It seems that the older I get, the more intolerant of dairy products I become. It's almost at the point of no return for me now, with even a tablespoon of cows milk in a cup of tea leaving me feeling queasy. For the most part I don't miss it at all because I have a horrible association with it after many nights sweating and feeling incredibly nauseous. The one thing I do miss however, is creaminess.

I've been having a play with nut creams and tofu lately and tonight I made a no cheese cheesy bake. This is gluten free but you could substitute the gluten free pasta with normal wheat pasta if you choose to.

Ingredients

GF pasta shells
1 jar of organic tomato pasta sauce
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1 packet of tofu - try and buy organic because soy beans are a crop that can be exposed to heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers as well as some being genetically engineered.
1 C raw unroasted unsalted cashew nuts
3/4 C - 1 C soy milk (again, try for organic)
2 zucchini's or spinach
Salt and white pepper
Olive oil

Let's Cook!

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until just cooked. Meanwhile, cut the zucchini into rounds and cook on a tray in the oven with a little olive oil at 180 degrees centigrade for around 15 minutes or until soft.

To prepare the creamy cheesy element of the dish blend the cashew nuts with 3/4 C of the soy milk until smooth. Add the tofu broken into chunks and blend it together until it makes a thick cream, about the consistency of ricotta cheese. Add a little more soy milk if you need to. Season with salt and a pinch of white pepper.

Mix the pasta sauce and tin of tomatoes together in a bowl.

To assemble the dish brush some olive oil in a large rectangular oven proof dish then add a layer of tomato sauce. Add a layer of pasta on top of the sauce then dot 1/2 of the nut tofu cream on top of the pasta evenly. Add another layer of tomato sauce then the zucchini overlapping the pieces as you go. Lastly add the remaining pasta and finish with a final layer of tomato sauce and the remainder of the nut tofu cream.

Cook for 20 minutes in a 180 degree oven (fan bake works best) until golden and bubbling.

You won't taste nuts or tofu, but what you will have is a lovely creamy texture and a healthy no meat protein boost. Even better, my kids loved this meal and didn't miss the meat or cheese at all.

39. Family Values on Scrabble Board

For a while now I've been on the look out for an old Scrabble board game with wooden tiles. I've seen lots of craft ideas using them from jewellery to coasters, but what I had in mind was a little different. Around 3 weeks ago my husband spotted one at a Blue Mountains Salvation Army store for $4 - exciting! There's nothing like finally finding that elusive item on your op shop wish list.

That night once the kids were in bed we got to brain storming about our family, our children, who we are, and who we want to be. We wrote down all of the words that fit us as a family then there was the fun part - trying to get them all onto our Scrabble board using the tiles we had. Once we had it right, we took some photographs before putting it away in a box ready for the moving truck.

Last weekend a sufficient number of boxes were unpacked to allow me to revisit my Scrabble project without feeling too guilty. Here's what I came up with: