Welcome!

Welcome to my blog which gives a peek at the "behind the scenes" of my shop over on Etsy, Ji Babu. I create a little of this and that, trying to reuse or repurpose items that otherwise might have ended up in the garbage. I love hearing from my fans, so drop me a note to say Hi or if you have any questions - ji.babu.shop [at] gmail [dot] com

Monday, February 13, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  In honor of the holiday, check out this Treasury I was featured in.  It was curated by a fellow RNEST member, Jennie.  She creates handcrafted clothing + accessories over at her shop: TurtleFly, so check out her Etsy shop, too!


Sunday, February 12, 2012

It's what's for dinner!

While I'm on crafting hiatus as we adjust to being a family of 4 (!), I figured I'd share something else being made... dinner.  It has to happen, whether or not anything else is happening.  So, here's what we are eating tonight:

Sausage + Lentil Stew (Slow Cooker style)

serves 4-6

1 cup lentils 
2 cups beef broth
1 (12-ounce) package smoked chicken or turkey sausage, sliced--your choice of flavor. 
1 cup chopped carrots
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
9 ounces (or so) fresh spinach (to add at the very end)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Rinse your lentils under cold water, and place them into an empty slow cooker. Add beef broth, and sliced sausage. Add the entire can of tomatoes and a cup of chopped carrots. The broth and the seasoning from the sausage is enough to flavor this dish-- there is no need for additional spices.

Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, then stir in fresh spinach. It'll look like a lot at first, but the spinach will wilt and I promise it will all fit. Cover again and let the spinach soften for about 15 minutes. Serve in a shallow bowl with cornbread.

Found this recipe at Stephanie's awesome blog: A Year of Slow Cooking