DIY Project: Friendiversary Quilt

Meet Jo, the lovely lady who has been by my sidekick for most of my life. This year, Jo & I are celebrating 23 years of friendship! Twenty three years of travels and jokes, hugs, tears, and a multitude of hilarious shenanigans.

Jo & I, from my Instagram

Nowadays, we live half a world apart, we have for the past decade, but she's still my bestie. To celebrate our anniversary, I made her this Friendiversary quilt:

Queen size improve style Friendiversary quilt

This is the first Improv Style quilt that I've ever attempted, and I'll definitely make more quilts in this style! I really loved the improv process, especially the fact that the creative part of the quilting process continues throughout, as opposed to a more traditional style quilt, where you pick a pattern and which prints to use at the beginning, and then follow through. This time I continued to design the quilt, block by block, from start to finish. As the design process is my favorite part (besides pulling the finished quilt out of the dryer, all washed, warm and crinkly), stretching it throughout the piecing and sewing really suited me better. I also really love the resulting look of this quilt.

In fact, this is my favorite quilt I've ever made! Truly, if it was intended for anyone other than Jo, I would not actually give it away. I am currently in the process of making another quilt using the same prints, similar but not identical to this one, to make a matching Friendiversary quilt set.

The above Instagram pic, from a trip to Sweden in August of last year, turned into this photo fabric print:

I hand picked and printed almost all the fabric used in the quilt top using Spoonflower, and its many talented print designers. I also custom made two text prints and one photo panel of my own. I ended up adding a few prints from my scraps stash as well, and the combination of fabrics turned out absolutely perfect!

I quilted each print with a different quilting pattern throughout the quilt, and while I did end up having one or two favorites, I really, REALLY love the variety of textures created by the mix most of all.

The white blocks, with the tight straight lines of quilting were my favorite. The texture of this tight quilting is absolutely amazing. On some of the prints, I quilted according to the print design. A few blocks had very minimal quilting, and other had none besides the perimeter.

For the backing, I used IKEA's Britten Nummer print, with a few scraps from the quilt top mixed in. I had not planned on piecing the backing, other than joining two lengths of yardage to cover the entire back. However, when I got home from IKEA I realized they had falsely sold me 10 yard of  "continuous yardage", with several HUGE and extremely UGLY seams running straight through, leaving me no pieces large enough, so I had to rethink my plan. Eventually, I ended up adding a few bits and pieces, and I am happy with the result. While I didn't get a great photo of the completed backing, you can get an idea of what it looks like here;

I made the binding using left over BRITTEN NUMMER print, and after covering the raw edge with overhang from the backing, I added it on top.

The one downside I found with this improv style quilting, is that it was a lot more time consuming than traditional quilting. Of course, I added extra work time the sheer size of this quilt, and by quilting each block differently, but even without that, this quilt took the longest to complete compared to all of my previous work of comparable size. Just cutting and arranging the quilt top took 4 days, assembly took 2, and quilting took a full week. Binding was about the same as a traditional quilt of the same size, but then I had to cut threads, front and back, for a few days. Lastly, I added one of my labels, and after 2.5 weeks of 10 hours/day at my sewing machine, this gorgeous quilt was finally completed!

Fabric Used:

Quilt top, organized by source:


Spoonflower, $18/yard:
watercolor mustache in aqua, by Katarina
Arrows & feathers, by Katarina
arrows by, katarina
watercolor dots purple, by katarina
arrows pink, by katarina
arrows_in_black_and_white_pattern, by katarina
long tiny striped feathers, by katarina
doilies on linen, by katarina
watercolor chevron aqua white, by katarina
love letter, by katarina
crazy dots gray, by katarina
chevron_arrows, by katarina
Letters, by Ankepanke
hearts and dots in a wavy stripe, by tb0969
I LOVE YOUR TYPE, by bzbdesigner
small_type-2, by bxbdesigner
Say What? (Quirky idioms typed text), by happysewlucky
Madame Fancypantaloons' Instant LIbrary Bindings ~ Blue, by peacoquettedesigns
Fancy Lattice Pink with White Outline, by karmie
Woodtype Alphabet (chalk), by penny candy

Other, approx. $10/yard:
white solid cotton
offwhite solid cotton
Michael Miller Cotton Couture, various solids
various prints from my scrap bin

Backing:
Britten Nummer print, IKEA, $4.99/yard
various leftovers from quilt top

Binding:
Britten Nummer print, IKEA, $4.99/yard

DIY Project: Felt Christmas Tree with Ornaments

I got this idea from Pinterest (of course) months and months ago, and while there are countless versions of this project out there, I really like this tutorial from the blog Johnny In A Dress.

As soon as I first saw this, I thought of a certain little Swedish girl, who I knew would LOVE something like this for the holiday season. But the holidays were still very far away at the time, so I filed it away for later in the year.

From My Instagram

I finally made this project this week, and the whole thing took about 30 minutes from start to finish! All you need is about 1 yard of green felt, plus some colored felt for decorations, a scissor, and hot glue.

Unlike the original tutorial, I used a mix of plain and patterned felt, instead of decorating the ornaments myself. I also hot-glued a star to the top of the tree.

I added a couple of gift tags to some of the gifts under the tree, one with the gift-recipient's name, and one with "God Jul", which is Swedish for Merry Christmas.

I also added one gift with an unsealed top edge, to use as a pocket for the ornaments when not in use.

I attached the tree using wide, double-sided tape, and it worked brilliantly.

I hope this little felt tree will give a certainly little girl, who according to her mom "likes to re-decorate the tree every single day", a lot of joy this holiday season.

DIY Project: Candy Cane Centerpiece

I made these Candy Cane Centerpieces for the first time last year, after finding a tutorial on Pinterest, and I knew right away that this was a project I would repeat many times over. However, this year when I went back to my old pin to refresh my memory, the link seems to be broken, and the tutorial missing. I had planned to link to it, with photos of my finished project, but instead I'm posting my method as I remember it. I don't know how closely it matches the original tutorial, as I haven't' read it in a year (should be fairly close though, as this is a really easy project), but this worked perfectly for me today, and the end result looks fairly similar to the original picture that was my inspiration. If you do happen to find the original tutorial, please let me know so that I can link and credit the original source. 

DIY Project: Candy Cane Centerpieces

These are perfect for a holiday party, a quick hostess gift, or as part of your holiday decor. Besides roses, I also filled a few of them with candles, and both looked fabulous (photos to come).

What you'll need:
1 clean glass container
1 rubberband or elastic that fits tight around the glass container
candy canes (number depends on size of glass container)
ribbon (length depends on size of glass container)
red roses and greenery OR large candle or luminary

What to do:
1. Fit elastic around the glass container.
2. Add candy canes between the elastic and the glass, making sure the elastic is tight enough to hold the candy canes in place. Continue to add candy canes until they cover the entire circumference of the glass container.
3. Straighten candy canes, and tie ribbon around candy canes, on top of the elastic, hiding it.
4. Your base is now finished. Trim roses to the correct length, making sure flowers form a slight dome shape, and arrange together with greenery in the glass container. Add water. Alternatively, add a candle instead.
5. Done!

DIY Project: Winter Holiday Banner (Retail Knockoff)

I saw these adorable Kata Golda Winter Holiday Banners on Gilt the other day, for $100, discounted from the original $140. First I thought "Cute!", followed by "$100 for $10 of felt?!?". But... but... this thing is a perfect match for my Holiday decor! It would look so cute in my house!!! However, while very cute, it's worth nowhere near $100. So, I tried to make something similar myself.

Image source: katagolda.com

This is what I came up with.

DIY Project: Winter Holiday Banner Tutorial (Retail Knockoff)

I used the original specifications as a guide. Pennants are 7"x7", spelling the words "Merry Christmas" with one blank pennant included to create a space between words. Length is 86" plus an extra 32" of twill tape for hanging on each end.

What you will need:

White felt
Red felt
Light green felt
150" 0.75" twill tape, natural (I used red because I had some, but if I did another banner, I would make sure it was natural, or white instead)
Sewing machine with matching thread OR hot glue gun
apple green embroidery thread and needle (optional)

What to do:

1. Cut 8 red 7"x7" felt pennants, 7 white 7"x7" pennants, and 14 3"x3" squares of the apple green felt.

2. Cut out your letters from the light green felt squares, freehand or use a pencil to trace them first. Also cut out 6 green holly leaves, and 4 copies of the three red berries (or however many you would like, I made a few less than the original).

3. Attach letters to the pennants. The original banner have the letters attached by hand stitching, using a matching green thread, and they may or may not have been glued on first. You can either hot glue the letters in place, or attach them using a sewing machine, and then adding the green stitching afterwards, alternatively, just doing the hand stitching. I felt a bit iffy about the quality & longevity of my hand stitches, so I machine-stitched mine first. Remember to leave one blank pennant to create a space between the words.

4. To attach the pennants to the twill tape, lay your tape out on a large work surface, and measure 33" from one end. Place your pennants in the proper order, overlapping slightly (around 1") with each one. Don't forget the blank pennant between the words. For the original look, fold the pennants over the twill tape and zigzag over the fold. If you're using bias cut tape in place of twill tape, like I am, instead fold the double folded tape over the edge of the pennants, and attach either by matching stitching across each pennant on the twill tape (like the original), or, by using a hot glue gun.

5. Assemble your leaves and berry pieces for the decor, and lay them back to back, with the tape in the middle, on either side of the letters. Hand, machine-stitch or hot glue the berry decor onto the twill tape, one on each side of the pennants. I machine-stitched the berry pieces together over the tape, with the leaves in between.

6. If you want the same finish as the original, hand-stitch the light green embroidery thread around all the letters. This step isn't necessary, obviously, and it takes this project from a quick 30 minute project to a rather time consuming endeavor. In this case, the extra work is actually worth it, and the hand stitches add a really nice touch. While my banner looked fine before the stitches, it looks fantastic with them!

7. Voila! While my banner has slight differences from the original, and my photo isn't quite as fancy, in person they are actually very similar, and I'm very happy with my little holiday banner. It's very festive!

Cost Comparison:

Original:
$140, through Kata Golda website, or $100 at Gilt

DIY Retail Knockoff (generous approximation, since I had the supplies left over from previously projects): 

Felt: $5

Twill tape: $5

Embroidery thread & needle: $5
Total: $15

$15 compared to the original $140! Not a bad "retail knockoff". This project can be altered to fit any occasion, and I'm making a 'Happy Birthday!" one next. Of course, I'll post photos when it is finished.

DIY Project: Advent Calendar

I made this simple little advent calendar for my husband, and I am currently in the process of filling it with a mix of small toys, PS3 games, travel gadgets, candy, DVDs, and a few small tools and randoms funny bits, before he's set to open the first bag tomorrow. Advent calendars were such a fun part of my Christmas celebration as a kid, and I'm excited to see my husband experience this holiday awesomeness as well.

DIY Project: Advent Calendar

This is a fairly easy DIY project, which requires minimal sewing skills, and a little bit of painting, but it does take some time to complete. I made my bags around 8" by 10, but this project can easily be sized up or down. 

What you will need:

1 1/2 yards linen, burlap, or fabric of choice

white fabric paint

fabric brushes, one thin, one wide

twine

5 packages of red double folded bias cut tape, plus 150"extra for hanging

What to do:

1. Start by making your drawstring bags. Cut fabric into twenty-five 8"x20" rectangles. Fold each double, right side in, creating 8"-by-10" pouch. Here you can either serge each raw edge, to prevent unraveling, or wait until construction and do it then. 

2. Close each side of the bag, by stitching along each 10" side, with a 1/4" margin, then go over the raw edge again with your zig-zag (or skip the two steps, and use a serger).

3. Turn bag right-side-out. Fold 1 inch of the top of each pouch down inside the pouch, and stitch all around the bag, closing the last raw, top edge.

4. Your basic pouch is now done. Repeat 24 times.

5. First, put a folded piece of cardboard, thick paper, or a paper towel, inside each bag before you start painting, to prevent paint seeping through the first layer from gluing your bags shut as the paint dries. Using a thin fabric paint brush, trace the outline of each number on one side of each completed bag, then fill in evenly with a larger brush. I freehanded my numbers, and thus they are all a bit different, but you could easily use a stencil or pencil to assist with the numbers.

6. Let the paint dry on all your completed bags, and then remove the protective paper inside.

7. To add the red draw string "tunnel", measure a length of binding that fits around the bag, with a very slight overlap. Start attaching the binding, by folding over the raw edge about 1/4", and then sewing along one side, using the top stitch from Step 3 as your guide. When you get to the end, fold raw edge under, and finish the seam. Repeat on the other side.

8. Cut 25 lengths of twine, each long enough to wrap around the bag, with 6-8 inches to spare (a longer twine makes it a lot easier to untie the bags when they are full). Using a safety pin, thread the twine through the drawstring "tunnel" of each bag, and close with a knot. Repeat 24 more times. Melt the raw edge of the twine a little, if necessary, to avoid unraveling.

9. Voila! Your calendar is finished, ready to be hung, and filled with goodies.

Road Trip Recipe 6: Egg Salad and Arugula Wraps

Traditional egg salad is often made with lots of mayonnaise, which makes it really heavy. To make it healthier, I make mine with Greek yoghurt and a just a tiny bit of mayo, and you can't even tell the difference. Usually, I make this egg salad when I make finger sandwiches for Afternoon Tea, but it's also really tasty in wrap form. Sometimes I flavor it with mustard, or green onions, and always with sprouts if I make tea sandwiches, but this is the base recipe. 

Since it's so easy to make, and keeps well for a couple of days if it's stored properly, I added it to my healthy Road Trip Menu. Instead of bread, I used whole wheat sandwich wraps, and these made for a great lunch for us on our trip to Yellowstone. Instead of eating the horrible park food we were stuck with last time, this time Hubby & I are having picnics in the park every single day, and it has been so lovely. Just as with yesterday's French Picnic sandwich recipes, I kept the components separate to avoid sogginess, and it literary took two second to whip these up. 

Quick-to-Assemble Meals:

• French Picnic Baguettes:
•  - Ham & Cheese
•  - Brie, Walnut & Prosciutto
•  - Steak & Goat Cheese
• Homemade Egg Salad and Arugula Wraps

Egg Salad and Arugula Wraps with cucumber, tomato, green onion, and carrots.

Egg Salad and Arugula Wraps

Ingredients:

6 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped 

1/4 cup low-fat Greek Yoghurt

1 tbsp mayonnaise

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

4 whole wheat Lavash flatbreads

1 cup arugula

Directions:

1. Add chopped eggs, Greek Yoghurt and mayonnaise in a bowl; combine well. 

2. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Divide egg salad among the wraps, concentrating the egg salad in one end of each lavash. Top with arugula, and roll up, starting at the end that holds the egg salad. 

4. Enjoy right away. Nom nom.

Road Trip Recipe 5: French Picnic Baguettes

These sandwiches remind me of quintessential picnics in France as a kid, and of generally glorious times spent running around Provence with French friends that I could barely understand.

While they cannot be pre-made for any significant amount of time, due to the resulting sogginess, they can be prepared in parts, stored separately, & then quickly assembled when it's time to eat. I much prefer having to deal with some light assembly over eating old, soggy food. Which is why I included them on my healthy Road Trip Menu for the later part of our trip, for which most of the pre-made food from home wouldn't last. Luckily, after our first day of driving, we had a few nights at a really nice hotel before continuing our Road Trip, so I had a chance to stock up on groceries, do some light cooking (our room had a full kitchen), and prepare new meals for the remainder of the trip. While having a kitchen made it easier, it was in no way necessary - I could have easily done the same thing at a camp site.

Quick-to-Assemble Meals:
French Picnic Baguettes
       - Ham & Cheese
       - Brie, Walnut & Prosciutto
       - Steak & Goat Cheese
Homemade Egg Salad and Arugula Wraps

Just as the previous recipes in my Road Trip Menu series, these can be varied a lot, by what you put in them. All of them can also be made using flatbread wraps instead of baguette. These are three of the most popular ways I prepare mine:

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French Picnic Baguettes: Ham & Cheese

This classic is the one sandwich of these three that can stand a bit of time in the cooler, fully assembled and just waiting to be eaten, without going soggy right away. However, they are best when assembled right before eating, so pack each component separately, and then assemble the sandwiches on the spot.

Ingredients:

1 long French baguette, cut in quarters and split, OR 4 small, single-serve baguettes, split
1/2 pound French ham, sometimes sold as jambon de Paris, sliced paper-thin
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
6 oz Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced

8 cornichons, thinly sliced lengthwise (optional)

Directions:

1. Spread the mustard evenly over 1, or both cuts of the baguette (traditionally butter is used on 1, mustard on 1, but I usually do mustard on both).
2. Layer the ham slices on the bottom baguette half, followed by the cheese. Top with the cornichons, if using.
3. Press sandwich together, and enjoy!

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French Picnic Baguette: Brie, Walnut & Prosciutto

This is a delicious combination, with variations mentioned below.

Ingredients:

1 long French baguette, cut in quarters and split, OR 4 small, single-serve baguettes, split
Brie Cheese
1 pear
1/2 pound Prosciutto
1/4 cup Walnuts (toasted)
Extra-virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:
1. Drizzle baguette with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
2. Spread a layer of cheese over baguette, and top with prosciutto.
3. Slice the pear very thinly, and fan over the prosciutto. Sprinkle with walnuts.
4. Enjoy!

These are also very nice topped with arugula (I know, I know, I seem to put arugula on everything). Also, the prosciutto can be omitted, and honey can be used as a spread instead of the olive oil and vinegar mixture, for a very tasty Brie sandwich.

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French Picnic Baguettes: Steak & Goat Cheese

I usually make these either using leftovers from grilling the night before, OR I grill the meat while I grill something else for dinner the night before, then cool and slice it right away. This time, since I made these in my hotel room kitchen, I seared the steak instead. You can use many different cuts of beef, and in a pinch you can even avoid cooking altogether, and use roast beef from the deli counter instead, although it really tastes the best with freshly grilled steak.

Ingredients:


1 long French baguette, cut in quarters and split, OR 4 small, single-serve baguettes, split
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of water
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound grilled beef steak, of desired cut, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste
5 oz fresh goat cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup grainy Dijon mustard
2 bunches arugula, stems trimmed


Directions:

1. Slice steak thinly, against the grain, and set aside.  

2. Melt butter with olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and caramelize, adding water in small amounts as needed. The onions are ready when they are a deep, golden brown, very soft, and sweet. For our Road Trip I made these the day before, and they store well when refrigerated.

3. Dividing evenly, spread top halves of bread with cheese, and bottom half with mustard. Add steak, onion, and arugula. Season to taste if needed.

4. Enjoy!

As with the other two sandwiches, I packed all the components separately in the cooler, and then assembled the sandwiches right before lunch. 

Road Trip Recipe 4: Pesto Pasta in a Jar

These awesome Pesto Jars are another ready-to-eat meal from my healthy Road Trip Menu, and it's one of my husband's favorite picnic dishes. They can also be made in a big batch and kept in the fridge, for a quick, tasty and portion controlled meal that doesn't taste like it spent the last 2 days in your fridge.

Ready Meals:

Salad in a Jar

Ham, Turkey & Dijon Wraps

Pesto Pasta in s Jar

They are delicious warmed, but it's also tasty cold (if you're into that sort of thing). I added it to this list since it lasts so well throughout the day. In fact, although I made this the night before we left, we still were able to have this for dinner almost 24 hours later, and it was still fresh and absolutely delicious. I have also made more of these yesterday in our hotel room (which had a full kitchen), as well as more salad jars, and more wraps, to eat on the remainder of our Road Trip. We're continuing to Yellowstone today, so these will once again be great for our drive.

Pesto Past in a Jar - quick, easy, portable, and super tasty!

Pesto Pasta in a Jar

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pasta of choice
2 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

hot water, as needed

1 cup arugula lettuce (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta to al dente, and drain. Cool to stop cooking, and set aside.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine garlic, basil and olive oil until smooth. Add cheese, season to taste, and mix briefly. Add hot water, as needed, until desired consistency is reached. Do keep in mind that if you are planning on eating this dish cold, the pesto needs to have a bit more fluid consistency than if you're heating it. Of course, as an alternatively, store bought pesto can be used.
3. Spoon a layer of pesto into the bottom of each mason jar.
4. Add cherry tomatoes, season to taste, and sprinkle with pine nuts.
5. Topp each jar with pasta, and, if using, the arugula.
6. Shake right before serving. Enjoy!

This recipe can be modified in many different ways by adding mozzarella cheese, grilled Italian style veggies, Portabello or button mushrooms, and a large variety of protein. Chicken works really well, as do grilled shrimps, although depending on what you add, the dish might stay good for less time. I just made this basic recipe, and had one for lunch yesterday, on the 3rd day since these were made, and guess what? STILL delicious! That is crazy awesome, people!

What do you put in your pesto? 

Road Trip Recipe 3: Ham, Turkey & Dijon Wraps

This is the third recipe on my healthy Road Trip Menu, the second of the ready-to-eat meals.

Ready Meals:

Salad in a Jar

Ham, Turkey & Dijon Wraps

Pesto Pasta in a Jar

I picked these because you can actually make them in the morning, and they won't taste like wet, soggy bread by lunchtime, or even late afternoon. Which basically makes them perfect road trip fare. Also, they are one-hand friendly, so they can be eaten while driving without risking your life or making a complete mess. Win-win, right?

Luckily, they are also absolutely delicious! My dear husband, who was slightly apprehensive when I broke the news that we'll be eating nothing but homemade healthy foods throughout our entire Road Trip, was instantly won over by these wraps. I made them early in the morning before we left, and by late afternoon, after spending the entire day in the cooler, they still tasted like they were freshly made. 

Ham, Turkey & Dijon wraps with mango, strawberry & apple salad.

Nom nom!

So, what's the secret to keeping them from going all soggy?
The cream cheese. It is the one ingredient that should not be omitted if you want them to last throughout the day, although you can use any kind of spreadable cream cheese. Not a big fan of the taste of cream cheese? No worries. You don't need much. I used a very thin spread of plain Philadelphia cream cheese on our wraps, and hubby couldn't even taste it. But it does keep the wrap really fresh.

Ham, Turkey & Dijon Wraps

Ingredients:

1/2 pound thinly sliced ham, from the deli counter
1/4 pound thinly sliced turkey or chicken breast, from the deli counter
2 tbsp Cream Cheese (plain, or flavored, and Laughing Cow works as well.)
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
8 leaves butter lettuce OR 1 cup spring mix lettuce OR baby spinach
4 whole wheat flatbread or sandwich wraps

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and mustard until smooth. Set aside.
2. Spread each bread evenly with 1/2 tablespoon cream cheese.
3. Divide ham evenly between each bread, leaving 1 inch of one end of each flatbread uncovered.
4. Divide turkey evenly between each bread, leaving the same 1 inch of one end uncovered.
5. Spread or sprinkle some mustard sauce on top of turkey.
6. Add lettuce, and roll each flatbread into a log. Keep the 1 inch strip on the outside, and the cream cheese will help keep the roll together. Wrap tightly with plastic cling wrap.
7. Keep logs wrapped and stored cold until ready to serve. The cream cheese protects the bread, and these will keep all day without getting too soggy.

My recipe does call for a little bit more ham than turkey, because I do not like it when the turkey dominates the other flavors too much, but this is a matter of personal taste. Adjust the amounts according to your own preferences. Wraps are so great, because they can be varied almost indefinitely, and they're not as heavy as sandwiches. Do you make wraps? What kind of wraps do you use? What do you put in them? 

Road Trip Recipe 2: Salad in a Jar

Besides snacks, I needed a few quick meals on our Road Trip Menu, that we didn't need to stop to eat. This dish, a lunch staple in my kitchen, was an obvious choice to start my list.

Ready Meals:
Salad in a Jar
Ham, Turkey & Dijon Wraps
Pesto Pasta in a Jar

It seems Mason Jar Meals are everywhere nowadays, and while I've always found it a cute and different way to present a dish, I didn't really get the benefit besides presentation, and portion control. However, as soon as I tried one of these salads, I realized why everyone was singing their praise all over the internet. These are so convenient, and can be prepared in large batches days in advance, without the salad getting all soggy. Usually I prepare at least one batch per week when we're home, for quick, healthy lunches that are ready-to-eat, and all you have to do is grab a fork & shake to mix.  Singlehandedly, these jar salads have completely revolutionized the way I eat lunch.

The salad stays crisp and tasty all the way through day 4 if you assemble them correctly. They can be varied almost endlessly, and they make eating a healthy lunch every day so easy. They also make for great a great, healthy Road Trip meal.

The trick is in the layering.

Salad in a Jar

Ingredients:

This dish can be varied indefinitely, just add your salad goodies of choice:

Salad dressing
Starch & Protein
Veggies
Lettuce

Mason jar of desired size

Directions:

1. First, the dressing must go at the bottom. If it touches the lettuce, the leaves will turn into wilted slime. Not tasty.
2. Secondly, add any starchy vegetables, and protein. Things like carrots, chickpeas, beans and chicken.
3. Above that goes all the more delicate veggies; tomatoes, cucumber, peas, fruit, seeds, sprouts, mushrooms, onions, corn, and nuts, cheese as well as egg and tuna.
4. Lastly, on top goes the lettuce, of any variety. After you wash it, let it sit on some paper towels, dabbing as well if necessary, so that it goes in the jar as dry as you can get it. This way it is exposed to as little moisture as possible, and thus will keep crisp and fresh for as long as possible.

Like so:

Chicken, Strawberry & Walnut salad with Champagne Vinaigrette (left), 

and Chicken, Mango, Red Onion & Cashew salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette (right).

When you're ready to eat, grab a salad jar, shake it to mix, unscrew the top & lunch is served.

Enjoy!

A word of advice: if you're taking a salad jar on the go, don't just toss it in your bag and run out the door. Treat it with care. Sure, the glass can shatter if you're not careful, but that's not the most important reason. The salad and dressing needs to stay separate for as long as possible. Preferably all the way up until you shake the jar before eating. Each extra minute they are mixed, the salad dies a little bit. 

Road Trip Recipe 1: Oven Dried Kiwi

On my quest for a healthy Road Trip Menu, I started with the snacks, if for no other reason than a road trip without snacks is really miserable. I started with my own favorite healthy snacks that I normally keep on hand, singling out the portable ones. I asked Twitter, and mined Pinterest for ideas as well, to come up with this list:

Snacks:

• Hummus with veggies
• Homemade Trail Mix

• Baby carrots

• Beef Jerky

• Homemade dried fruit

• Fruit salad

• Watermelon

• Yoghurt/Kefir

Many of the snacks were very straight forward, mostly just requiring to be tossed in snack-sized ziplock bags, or packed as is. I did, however, make my own dried fruit, and my own Trail Mix.

Oven Dried Kiwi Fruit

I tried dried kiwi for the first time just the other day, and LOVED it! Seriously delicious, and I just had to try to make my own. It was really easy, but yes, somewhat time consuming, although kiwi is apparently pretty quick to dry compared to some fruits, which can take upwards of 20 hours!

Ingredients:

10 kiwi fruit

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 145˚F; remove oven racks.

2. Prepare the fruit by washing it thoroughly, peeling, and removing any imperfections. Slice fruit in 1/4 inch thick slices. 

3. Mix lemon juice and water in a shallow bowl. Dip fruit slices in juice mixture. The acid will help preserve the color of the fruit. This can also be done by a salt bath, or ascorbic acid.

4. Line oven racks with cheesecloth. Arrange fruit on top in a single layer, making sure the pieces do not touch.

5. Bake fruit 4-6 hours, or until done. Leave the oven door slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, and rotate racks every 2 hours. Overachievers can place a fan close to oven, to properly circulate air.

6. Check your kiwis for doneness by first touching them - they should be dry and a little dusty feeling, still pliable, almost leathery, but not brittle. Pull off a piece and inspect the tear. If there are any beads of moisture on the fruit, it'll need a bit more time. 

7. Store fruit in air-tight containers (super important), and keep protected from sunlight.

8. If you're making a large batch, and want the fruit to last for a long time, pasteurize your kiwis by heating them again, at 175˚F for 10-15 minutes.

9. Enjoy!

This recipe can be made with any kind of fruit, but drying times can vary with each fruit, so check carefully for doneness. Also, keep in mind, dried fruit is called "Nature's Candy" for a reason, although it should probably be called "Nature's Crack" instead. Enjoy in moderation.

Road Trip Menu

You know how it goes. You've been kicking ass and taking names on your diet/exercise plan for quite some time, and then comes a break in your still-fragile routine. It may be an unavoidable business trip, a fabulous summer vacation, or the  nemesis of all healthy eating ambitions, the Road Trip. Most often they go a little something like this:

Despite your best intentions, on the morning of departure you skip getting up at the crack of dawn to spread sandwiches, in lieu of an extended snooze-party in bed. Subsequently you skid out of town 2 hours later than you had planned, lucky that you even remembered to put the cooler in the trunk, although it's still empty. You eat like crap en route "because there were no healthy options at the rest stop/airport/train station", and you're stuck picking between fast food and sad, leathery truck stop hotdogs that look like they've been spinning on that heater for weeks. To avoid both, you end up doing the "reverse Hansel & Gretel", grabbing armfuls of junk at every single gas station stop along your way.

When you finally roll into your destination after 12 hours in the car, it's late, everything is closed, and you're STARVING, so you hit up Room Service for an over-sized dinner (why is Room Service meals so huge, anyways?) right before you collapse in bed. During your travels you indulge a bit more than you otherwise would, because "hey, this is [insert trip destination], and these are REAL [local specialty]". Naturally, you have to try all the local delicacies because "who knows when will you be here again?". Alternatively, the local cuisine is so gawdawful you have to survive on nothing but Snickers (true story) for weeks. Regardless, no amount of sight-see-walking will neutralize the damage. By the time you're back home, you've undone weeks of progress that you paid dearly for with hours of torture in the gym. And just like that, you're back at Square One.

No? It doesn't work like that for you?
Well, it does for me. But not this time, I tell you, not this time.

This time I planned ahead, skipped the pre-trip sleep-in for food prep, and actually filled our cooler full of healthy foods and snacks for the road. Since the drive there and back again is only half the problem, I also pre-planned what to replenish the cooler with during the trip. No more Road Trip junk!

So, what's on this healthy Road Trip Menu?


Road Trip Menu:

Snacks:

• Hummus with veggies
• Homemade Trail Mix
• Baby carrots
• Beef Jerky
• Homemade dried fruit - recipe here
• Fruit salad
• Individually packed watermelon slices
• Yoghurt
• Kefir

Ready Meals:

• Salad in a Jar - recipe here
• Ham, Turkey & Dijon Wraps - recipe here
• Pesto Pasta in a Jar - recipe here

Quick-to-Assemble Meals:

• French Picnic Baguettes: - recipes here
•  - Ham & Cheese
•  - Brie, Walnut & Prosciutto
•  - Steak & Goat Cheese
• Homemade Egg Salad and Arugula Wraps - recipe here

Drinks:

• Unsweetened Ice Tea

Some of these clearly do not need any further descriptions, and for the rest, I'll be sharing the recipes throughout the week. I will edit here to add the links, as well. If you have any go-to Road Trip foods that are decently healthy, feel free to share in comments.