Spaghetti Squash and Some Homemade Sauce

           Alright guys here we go again!! Sorry for the long absence, I had midterms :/ Something else that I am going to be doing on here is documenting my search for good college food. You see, I LOVE cooking, and I miss cooking when I am at school. My solution for this? Find recipes I can make using just my microwave. I have tried 4 different recipes, 2 of which were good.

            This first entry is my attempt at making spaghetti squash. Why is it called spaghetti squash you ask? well, It is a squash that when cooked shreds and looks like spaghetti strands. It is a very yummy thing that I was introduced to about three years ago. I never actually planned on attempting to make this in my dorm. Until my mom sent me back to school with one.
           Okay, first things first. You will need a spaghetti squash, sauce, butter (if desired), cheese (if desired), a fork, sharp knife, microwave safe plate, and a paper towel. Please note that my cooking times are for a 700 watt microwave.

 The hardest part of the entire process is cutting the squash in half. I didn't have a sharp knife in my room so it took me a few tries.

 Wet a paper towel and cover the spaghetti squash. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Remove from microwave.

 Take your fork and start to "shred" the squash. Do this by scraping the fork along the edges of the squash. At this point I added a little bit of butter. Recover the squash and microwave for a minute. Remove again. finish shredding the squash.

 At this point I dumped the squash into my microwave safe bowl and added the pasta sauce. At this point I would usually add some shredded cheese. However, my mom was awesome and sent me back to school with a little mason jar of homemade sauce, so I thought the cheese wasn't necessary (her sauce is so good I could just eat it with a spoon). After the sauce/cheese is on microwave another 45 seconds. Enjoy!

Adorable Tutu, Made from Scraps!!--Update!

I originally saw this idea when I googled tutus for my cousins 2nd birthday. My plan was to learn how to make a cute little pink tutu. then I saw a picture of a "scrap tutu".

 I think that this is an awesome idea, especially since I have TONs of scrap fabric. Sadly, there was no tutorial, but it looked fairly simple so I decided to attempt it. Fairly simple is an understatement. This is, hands down, the easiest thing I have ever sewn. 

Materials:

-pile of scrap fabric

-scissors

-3/4" elastic

-iron

-black thread

-sewing machine

-measuring tape

Cut your scrap fabric into strips. Mine were about 2" thick and ranged from 18"-22" long. 

  Iron the strips and fold them in half lengthwise. (I used approximately 40 strips.)

 Each strips needs to have a casing thick enough to slide your elastic through. I used 3/4" elastic so my casing was an inch thick.

  Cut the bottom of each strip at an angle.

 At this point I kind of failed at taking pictures. However, it is really simple. All you have to do is begin threading the elastic through the strips. I used 20" of elastic and found that it was a little too big for my cousin so I cut out about 3".  I found that once I got about 12 on they started falling off the other end. To remedy this problem I folded the elastic over and stuck a pin in it. Like this:

 Put on as many strips as possible, the closer they are bunched together the thicker the skirt will be. Once squeezed as close as possible remove the pin and overlap the elastic. Use your sewing machine on a zig-zag stitch. Stitch like crazy. I went a little overboard and covered the entire overlapped section...oops.

 The finished product:

 One of the best things about this project is that almost every type of fabric would work. Mine were mostly cotton, muslim, and canvas. Of course when my sister saw it she thought it would be a great idea to try it on. i told her no. She insisted. I insisted. As you can see, I lost the argument.

Abby's birthday is in a few weeks so I will make sure I will upload a picture of Abby in her new tutu!!

I know these pictures are a little over due, but they are finally here. These pictures are my cousin, Abby, wearing her new tutu!! The picture quality isn't great, but they are adorable!