I altered the "too big" dress

I made this dress from a pattern for our daughter last year... it was large on her then, but thought maybe she'd grow into it.  NOPE. This year has arrived and I took the scissors to the dress.  It was expensive material and I was feeling horrible for "wasting" and having no idea how to fix it!

Gathered waist (with a lining underneath) and pleats across the bottom

 She was so excited to have a pretty purple dress from Mommy ~ too bad it was too big!

 Thought I'd try with a raised waist line

 Took some of the material out for less bulk

 I couldn't even bear to take a photo of what that looked like!  Still too much bulk around the waist line.  So I cut again and this time tried pleats and NO lining in the skirt.

 This worked!  I took out the pleats (I don't know what they are called) along the bottom of the skirt and it made it long enough.  I tightened the neck area as well.

It was a little full of static cling, but she wore her bloomers underneath and had a good time.  The dress does not make her look like a block now...and we are happy with it.  WHEW!

Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe

Oh my oh my ~ we have a new family favorite in this house!  We have been going gluten free and I will be sharing some failures and also some successes, like this cake!

I did an internet search for recipes and came up with this one:  The only thing I did different was use a little less sugar.  Seems like most white base cakes are made by whipping egg whites into meringue and so they are very light.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake ~ Gluten Free

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp shortening or margarine
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 pineapple rings from a can, cut in half
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 9 tbsp rice flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preparation:

Melt shortening with sugar in a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan and arrange pineapple slices in sugar mixture. Separate eggs, and beat egg whites until frothy. Add 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff, but not dry. Sift in 6 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff again.
Sift together the rice flour, remaining sugar and salt and set aside.
Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add lemon juice and flour mixture. Beat only until smooth.
Add a small amount of beaten egg whites to yolk mixture and stir until blended.
Fold in remaining egg whites with rubber spatula.
Pour batter over pineapple.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Turn upside down.

A meal for under $1 each

This is how we enjoyed a wonderful meal for 5 people for under $5 ~ seriously!

 Venison steaks ~ $0.25/lb (because we did this all ourselves)
Asparagus $1.89/lb (biggest expense and treat)
Mushrooms, cauliflower, onions, (about $1 worth)
Rice Noodles (used half a package for $1)

It was delicious and frugal.  We're going gluten free, so I am keeping track of the price difference.  We are not nearly as hungry all the time as when we were eating wheat and my hubby bought about $40 worth of veggies on his way home from Calgary and we're still eating from them 1 week later.
Note to self: It can be done!