Tea towel jumbo tote bag - 100% repurposed materials!

Hang on to your pants because today's DIY is a triple threat!  This tea towel tote is made from three fabrics that all repurposed/recycled: a tea towel, an old bedsheet and some leftover fabric.

I love tote bags for the obvious reason that it's the environmentally friendly alternative to plastic bags. They can also be easily folded and stuffed into my purse when I'm hurrying out the door. Plus, having all your shopping in one bag is so much more convinient than hefting half a dozen paper or plastic bags! I used to feel weird when I started refusing plastic bags during checkouts but now I feel quite confident telling the cashier, "I don't need a bag, thank you,"especially when I whip out my well-worn canvas tote bag. The one I'm using right now is at least 3 years old; it's tremendously gratifying to think about all the plastic I've avoided using with just one single bag!

I must have browsed a dozen tutorials on how to sew a tote bag. I got even more excited when I realized I have materials I can repurpose into a bag. The tea towel is a mystery in that it's one of those things that's been laying about the house and no one in my family is 100% sure where it came from. We believe my brother bought it on an impulse (albeit, a weird impulse) during one of his trips to downtown Toronto, but we have yet to confirm that. The bedsheet is an old one from my own bed. The colour has gone from pale blue to even paler lifeless blue so I replaced it with a new one (in the exact same colour, I now realize...); but still, I couldn't bring myself to simply throw away all that fabric so I decided to dice it up and use as lining material. I wanted a jumbo-sized tote bag so I extended the height of the bag with some fabric, also from my scrap box. The extension fabric is actually from an old sarong and the tartan-like motif happened to match my tea towel quite perfectly.

Note: I took the extra step of sewing box corners for this bag; box corners give the bag dimension and a flat bottom, which I think is necessary for a bag this size. But it is optional and you can skip it if you like (Sew4home has detailed instructions on sewing boxed corners here).

 Read on after the jump for the full picture tutorial.

Jazzed up veggie sandwich

Toasted fresh veggie sandwich with honey mustard and pickled ginger. How does that sound? Delish, I know. I love fresh veggie sandwiches because they're easy to make and can be quickly customized to suit your tastebuds. There's an infinite number of ways you can tweak the flavours with different breads, spreads, vegetables and relishes. My mom bought pickled ginger a while ago - the type you get with your sushi - and I've been experimenting with it as a topping. I found that it complements the mellow mozzarella and sweet honey mustard perfectly.

 

If you love sandwiches (like me!) and you're looking to try new flavours, give this combination a try!

Easy stir-fried udon

Confession: this may be the start of yet another food obsession. I had udon in miso soup at an Asian supermarket's cafetaria a few weeks ago and I was absolutely smitten. The broth was simple and loaded with rich umami flavour and the fat udon noodles did a great job of carring the flavors. Plus the weather was pretty cold that day so some warm noodle soup felt just perfect!

Udon noodles are made from wheat and they come in several forms - dry, partially cooked or frozen. I opted for partially cooked udon, which can be thrown in straight into the pan without prior cooking or thawing. I whipped up an experimental batch with beef and oyster mushrooms when we had guests last week - which was quite a gamble! - but they turned out great. So tonight I decided to make some with egg tofu and gai lan (Chinese greens which resemble broccoli rabe but not at all bitter). I added the egg tofu for protein but it's optional - you can substitute it with regular tofu or skip it altogether. I must warn you, though, that egg tofu is quite delicate so handling it might take some extra effort.

 
As usual, this is a really easy dish to make. You can customize the veges and proteins according to your liking and no special skills are required besides chopping. With only a handful of ingredients,  you'll have a hot plate of noodles in less then 20 minutes!

Read on after the jump for the full recipe.


Easy stir-fried udon with egg tofu and gai-lan
Ingredients:
2 packets of cooked udon
1 tube of egg tofu, cut into 1/4" pieces
1/4 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup sliced sweet bell peppers
5-6 stems of gai-lan
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
pepper to taste
2 tbs oil and extra for frying tofu

Directions:
1. Wash and drain gai-lan. Separate the leaves from the stems. Place the leaves in a stack and chop in half. Slice the stems into 1/4" lengths.
2. In a small pan, heat about 1/2" of oil over medium-high heat. Fry egg tofu slices until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
3. In a medium skillet, add the 2 tablespoons of oil and bring to medium-high heat. Add all vegetables except gai-lan leaves. Stir-fry until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes.
4. Add noodles, gai-lan leaves, light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce and pepper. Stir well to combine for about 3 minutes. Turn off heat, adjust seasoning if necessary, add fried egg tofu and stir gently to distribute. Serve hot.

Serves 2-3 people.

Woven Ribbon-wrapped Bangles

I'm not over the craze of upcycling thrifted plastic bangles, apparently. I usually go to thrift stores to get my fresh supply of vintage beads but, nowadays, plastic bangles are the first things I see. Like my Embroidery Thread Wrapped bangles project, this one took only three materials and about fifteen minutes to make.

I already had a duo-toned ribbon on hand but you can opt to use two different coloured ribbons. The bangles came in a set of three for just $1.99. Altogether, I estimate the cost of these bangles came to about $5.00. Awesome, right? Check out the full picture tutorial if you'd like to give this a try.

Fennel au gratin

Winter is here! Well, the first snow fall is, at least. I woke up this morning to a flurry of snowflakes and immediately thought, "Comfort food time!" Although it's now bright and sunny again, I could still use some cheering up and there's a fennel waiting in my fridge, so fennel au gratin it is. Nothing says warm and comforting better than something cheesy and baked. Anything au gratin is fine by me but - and this might not be everyone's cup of tea - I personally love fennel because it's slightly fiberous and aniseed-y in flavour. This dish takes a little bit of effort and TLC but I always feel it's worth it by the time I'm bundled up in a blanket on the couch with a warm plate of gratin and hot mug of tea. Mmmm.

Read on after the jump for the recipe!