Solving The Great Dinner Problem...

I've been asked to write about my menu planner by multiple people... though I was not certain that I should actually divulge my awesome secrets (insanity, be be more specific) I did realize that it might benefit other similarly crazy people out there.

To understand my process, it is important to understand its history. When my husband and I first shared an apartment, we were in college, thus our income was almost nothing. One thing we had going for us was the fact that we enjoyed eating at home and we enjoyed eating foods that were rather cheap. As our family grew our need to eat healthier increased, but our monetary supplies did not increase as would have been helpful. I learned by necessity how to cook healthy homemade meals using a very limited means of money. This has really shaped by shopping brain and has solidified my basis as to how I cook today. In truth, because we struggled early on- we learned how to manage ourselves in such a manner that we still eat well and shop within our means today.

I do openly admit that because of job changes, our income is very different than it was when we first started out and I do spend quite a bit more on food, because I can. However, I still spend MUCH less than many people I know and we eat very well. The most important factor in saving money when shopping and menu planning is the PLANNING portion. Knowing exactly how much you need and how to share materials amongst meals is a necessity.

When you have a fully stocked kitchen and a specific menu in place, most of your problems are removed when it comes to frivolous food spending. Please note, fully stocked does not necessarily mean FULL. It means, you have what you need to cook the foods on your menu. Also, this means you have taken into account breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack foods in between. If you are hungry and looking for food, if you cannot satisfy this craving- you're in trouble. You'll spend. If you do not know what you are going to make for dinner or have a set plan for meals, then food is used vicariously and not there for other meals. Most often ALL of these problems are fixed by running to the store or heading out to eat. Both costly solutions.

To begin: Create a menu. Not just for the week... broaden your horizons. My menu plan is set for 6 weeks. I shop every 2 weeks, thus I have a 2 week rotating plan. This works marvelously because we do not ever eat the same meal twice in a six week period of time. This seems like a daunting task to begin with, but really it can be fun. Sit down with your family and ask what dinners they love best. Instantly, everyone has already contributed and everyone's favorites are included.

Ponder your cookbooks for ideas... not necessarily for new meal ideas (not that this is a bad idea, hint hint) but for things that you may have forgotten. We all come across meals that we love but tend to forget about. We mean to make them, but are filed away... and we get stuck in a dinner rut- eating the same foods time and time again. This is your chance to pull yourself out of the rut- pull up old ideas and integrate new ones. If you are going to make a 6 week plan, you need 42 meals.This may seem like a lot, but when you really start listing out meals you know and love... it is far easier than you'll realize.

Once you have a list of your meals, take a look at them individually. What do you serve with them? Think of side dishes, vegetables and breads that you enjoy. Make a separate list of vegetable you love and incorporate them into your meal plan. Treasures such as deviled eggs, potato salad and asparagus do not have to be brought out for special occasions only... integrate them into your plan. Once you have them noted, you'll be able to shop accordingly and enjoy them regularly.

With your meals planned and balanced, it is time to organize. I used MS Word to print my meals off on 1.5"x1.5" squares... the complete meals! I noted the main dish, the side, the vegetable and the bread if applicable. I printed all 42 meals and cut them out. I carefully arranged them into 1 week groupings. This ensures that I do not have an entire weeks worth of eating Italian dishes. I also carefully planned more expensive meals, such as steaks and turkey, into separate shopping cycles. This allows us to eat great food- and even the spending each pay check. Afterall, this is all about saving money as well as your sanity.

Using the system.

After I put together my meal plan and sorted out my squares- it was time to get crafty. I began with 4 sheets of 12"x12" cardstock and created a grid system. I cut 3 of  the papers to 6.25"x10.75" and the final piece to 3.25"x10.75". I drew in grid lines to separate my menu squares so that I had 2 rows of 7. Begin from the bottom up on the larger pieces of paper- you'll note that on the smaller piece, there is room for exactly 14 squares and a boarder edge.

I covered all of my menu squares and grids with clear contact paper (I call it cheap crafter's laminate.) It really helps keep it firm and long lasting. It also helps with the next step, which is placing all your squares onto their grid pages. I use reusable wall putty, which comes by lots of names and is rather inexpensive and found everywhere. A small bit of it on the back of each square and you can move your pieces around with ease.

This is helpful particularly with the lunch menu- as I didn't want to create separate weeks, but I hide my extra choices on the back.

Now, after all your menus have been planned, sorted and organzied, you should have a collection that looks similar to this:

42 organized dinner meals, 5-7 breakfasts foods and a supply of lunch ideas. Dinner meals are contained on 3 rotatable cards and can be moved about as needed.

Now, what to do with them? Mine hang up next our family calendar. I used 2 3M Mini Wall Hooks, evenly spaced on the wall, and hole punched my cards so they hung up. Notice breakfast and lunch hand above the dinner meals- and the other dinner plans hand behind the one in use.

What I love about my system is that I have complete freedom of choice- no matter how much you may be thinking otherwise. Looking at my plan, I have 14 choices to choose from. All foods that I know my family and I love to eat. This means that I know my kitchen is stocked to prepare these meals, so when I want them- I can make them. No further thought required. I can pick and choose from my choices depending upon my mood and know that everything will be there as needed.

When it comes time to making lunches, fixing breakfast and grocery shopping... I don't have to think. All the thinking is already done- now, I'm free to fix the meals and move on. It is a rather liberating thing. Also, after a few times around... you can reuse shopping lists. Print them up on the computer- adjust as you learn the method... and congratulations- shopping lists come pre-fashioned as well. I'm not sure about you- but for me? This is a HUGE time saver. Sure, I have to add toiletries and such... but that's nothing when compared to trying to recreate meal ideas and plan for dinner in your head. Having everything laid out for me to work around is more than a relief to my already busy day.

I have other projects that need that time and mind space, thank you very much.



**Special Note- if you become bored with your rotations, change it up. If you come across new recipes- add them in! You don't have to become completely fixed to the system once it is in place... but you'll love it just the same.***

Ninja Waffles *drool*

One of my very good friends turned me on to a waffle recipe so amazing, they have been dubbed "Ninja Waffles." They'll be consumed so quickly- you won't even see them disappear. They swipe in with their super goodness and make children AND mom's happy.

Yup- they really are THAT awesome. Lucky for my followers, I'm going to share the secret of the Ninja Waffle with you. Enjoy them, pass the recipe on and live in awe of the greatness that is, Ninja.

First off- this recipe makes quite a few waffles. I have an 8" round waffle iron and I get about 18-20 waffles. (actually, I have 2 8" round waffle irons... because I make these regularly and it helps to make 2 at a time.) But, no worries about the extras- they freeze up wonderfully, toast up perfectly under the broiler in less than 2 minutes, and are a PERFECT on the go breakfast food for the whole family.

See why they are so amazing? Kiss those silly little premade store waffles goodbye. These bad boys are filling and are full of good for you stuffs... just don't tell the family, they'll be weirded out.


To begin: You'll need 4 cups of buttermilk. If you're like me, you do not usually keep buttermilk on hand. The substitute is far too easy of an alternative to mess with keeping more stuff in the fridge. In your big mixing cup- add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice before measuring your milk... then, fill up to the proper amount. *this works anytime you need buttermilk- it is a 1 tablespoon to 1 cup ratio* Stir really well and let sit off to the side for 10-15 minutes.

Next you'll be mixing your dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger (a must!)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup milled flax seed

In a medium sized mixing bowl, melt 1/2 cup butter. Stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar until well dissolved. The more you allow the sugar to dissolve into the butter, the easier it'll be to incorporate the mix into your dry ingredients. As you can see, I use a fork.

Combine 1 tablespoon of vanilla to the butter/sugar mix. Then mix in 6 large eggs- ensuring they are well blended. Slowly combine your soured milk mixture while stirring the mix so the sugar does not settle back to the bottom.

Slowly pour wet ingredients into the dry bowl. Mix well.

At this glorious point- think of your batter as a blank canvas. You can pretty much add anything YOU are willing to eat. Nuts, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, fruit and seeds all come to mind. I will personally add that the peanut butter chips are my number one. However on this occasion I added 3 cups of blueberries to the batter. *when adding fruit, you will need to grease your iron more often* The results are just so darn yummy...

As I stated above, these freeze REALLY well. As I pull them from the iron, they cool completely on my cookie rack. Then I stack them 3 high and place them in the freezer until frozen solid. I then store them in groups of 6 in gallon sized ziplock bags. They MUST be cooled before going into the freezer and they cannot be stacked very high. The taller the stack, the heavier they are... the heavier they are- the more the bottoms ones get squished while freezing. If they squish together, they'll be harder to get apart in the morning... and if you're anything like me, you do not need any added stress to your morning routine. So, just make sure those wonderful tasty treats are frozen solid before stacking them too tall.

In the morning, or afternoon, or late at night... when you are ready for a waffle, turn your oven on to broil and put the rack up high- pull out however many waffles you need, and lay them under the heat. Keep an eye on them, it doesn't take long... less than a minute! Flip once (twice sometimes... if you feel a cool spot) and you're READY!


Trust me... you'll love me for this recipe. So, you're welcome.

Ice Cream, A Health Food.

My children love ice cream. I love ice cream... MOST people love ice cream! Sadly it is full of so much ickiness. Actually, it is so full of goodness- which is why we love it so much. But, in hopes of being a good mom, I know that my children cannot have ice cream just any ol' time. However, I've found a great and wonderful way to help them survive the time between ice cream consumption with a ice cream substitute using only 1 ingredient, BANANAS!

Wait, wait, wait. Here me out for a minute. Because seriously, its been time tested and proven to work and taste very much like vanilla ice cream. It has a science to it that is rather amazing... much like science can be.

In order for your "ice cream" to not taste like bananas, your fruit has to been VERY over-ripe. Not just speckled- but black and darn near disgusting. Each time I buy bananas, I toss a few in the back of the fridge and let them "cure" for dessert. Once they are supery doopery gross and ready for banana bread- I make a batch of banana bread for breakfast and a batch of ice cream for dessert!

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**SCIENCE ALERT!**

As bananas ripen the starches turn into sugar, which means the riper the banana- the sweeter the taste! After the bananas reach a certain age and begin to decay (yup, that's what they are doing there in the fridge turning all black and stuff) the sugars begin to break down. The bacteria and friends love these sugars! They begin to eat them up, thus the break down. The whole banana DNA make-up is frozen in time during the freezing process and continues to alter the banana's flavor make-up. Upon rapid blending, the whole thing is basically ripped apart- which removes most of the flavor entirely. Which is why your "banana" ice cream tastes very little like banana... and in some cases, not at all! If you want more banana flavoring- use fresher bananas.

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Ready to trust me? Here we go!

First you need about 3-4 very spent bananas and your food processor. Earlier in the afternoon (assuming ice cream is for dessert as it is in our house) cut up the bananas into roughly 2" pieces and freeze. They need to be frozen solid for maximum awesomeness.

When you are ready to serve- pull out the frozen bananas and put them into your food processor. I've heard instances where people have had success using their stand mixer but I'm not sure I would try that... and I wouldn't recommend a hand mixer. Seems a bit crazy to me, as you'll soon understand.

Cover securely and chop. After a bit you'll have this:

Keep going! Don't give up- it does happen like a great and wonderful surprise... for a long while it looks like this-

Then suddenly, the magic happens!

You have ICE CREAM!

At this point you scoop and serve. You can refreeze it, but it does melt quickly so eating it NOW is really the best option. It melts into a goop, which is very unappetizing.

My family loves to drizzle chocolate and add peanuts-

--Special Variations--

Chocolate Ice Cream:

• Drizzle chocolate syrup into the bananas while they are mixing. More chocolate- the chocolatier it'll taste!

 

The Obvious Banana Split:

• Add pineapple chunks, strawberries and chocolate syrup to the ice cream after mixing. I would recommend a fresher banana so you can taste more of the flavor here.

Moose Tracks-a-like:

• Swirl hot fudge and chopped  reeses peanut butter cups

A Timeless Hot Fudge Sundae:

• Pour on the hot fudge, sprinkle nuts and whip cream! 

Vanilla Bean (for those who are true vanilla fans)

• Toss in some vanilla beans into the mix while blending... and a few drops of vanilla extract. You'll be in purist heaven!

Really... the possibilities are ENDLESS, ever so tasty and really much better for you that the real stuff. Beware- from personal testing- bananas are very filling. Banana ice cream can sneak up on you... there will be times that the pure awesomeness of the dessert is actually too much! Less is more. Don't worry- you can eat it again later!

Great Banana Facts- In case you weren't already sold!

Banana Nutrition Facts

• A banana contains Vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber.
• Bananas do not contain sodium, fat or cholesterol.
• The Vitamin C, which is found in bananas, helps the body to defend and heal against infections. This vitamin also proves valuable in the synthesis of the connective tissue, absorption of iron and the formation of blood.
• Not only are bananas rich in vitamin C, they also contain potassium. Potassium is a mineral that helps in the building of muscles and protein synthesis. This is done as potassium stimulates nerve impulses for muscle contraction.
• A diet rich in potassium is said to reduce the risk of hypertension and stroke. As bananas are free from sodium and very rich in potassium, they can be included in the diet to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
• Bananas contain three natural sugars, sucrose, fructose and glucose along with fiber. A banana thus gives an instant and substantial boost of energy.
• A banana contains Vitamin B6, which helps in the synthesis of antibodies in the immune system apart from red blood formation, protein metabolism and functioning of the central nervous system.
• No other fruit contain more digestible carbohydrates than bananas. This is advantageous because, the body burns off calories from carbohydrate more easily and quickly than calories from fat or protein.

Interesting Facts About Bananas

• The word banana is derived from the Arab word "banan," which means finger.
• Bananas are harvested green because they keep ripening even after they are picked.
• Unlike most other fruits that grow on trees, bananas grow on plants.
• An average American is said to consume more than 28 pounds of bananas every year.
• Brisbane holds the world record for the longest banana split, which measured 7.3 kilometers.
• 3 medium bananas would weigh about a pound.
• Despite that fact that bananas love a tropical climate, they are grown in Iceland too, by heating the soil with geysers.

 Natural Banana Cures

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.


Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at wor k leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

The Daisy Purse

My daughter is a Daisy... for those of you unfamiliar, that's the youngest of the Girl Scouts. So far, she loves it. I am enjoying myself in its honor as well. Volunteering my crafting skills to a good cause. Most recently I have devoted myself to making the girls their own Daisy Purses... in lieu of some cheesy felt purses that we an option. I wanted them to have something better and thus, 10 Daisy Purses were crafted.

I didn't want to buy a pattern, as it didn't seem that difficult. I spent some time looking on the internet, scoping out ideas that others have shared. My version is an accumulated mixture of ideas that seemed to suit my needs best. The purpose of the purses is for the girls to earn their responsibility petal. They are supposed to remember to bring their bags to each meeting filled with their required materials. I designed the bag with a blank square on the front for the girls to decorate with fabric paints. The rest of the bag is a gorgeous daisy pattern in the perfect Daisy blue.

To begin I cut-

From Daisy Materials:

3- 9"x9"
1- 10"x3"
2- 7"x3"
1- 10"x2"
1- 2"x15"

From Blue Material:

1 6"x6"

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**Always pre-wash and iron materials before beginning, this ensures that material is in the best form to work with and will not shrink incorrectly later. All seams were sewn to 3/8 of an inch.**
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I use a rotary cutter and board to ensure that my pieces are perfectly squared and the correct size. I love this tool set and use it for far more than just sewing.

Begin creating the front piece by joining the 3"x7" Daisy material to opposing sides of the 6"x6" Blue square. The Daisy pieces are longer than the blue square, so they allow for extra room to wiggle around while joining them.

Iron the seams cleanly on the back. This step is important and should not be skipped, ever. It ensures that the squares are properly aligned, correctly sized and wrinkle free. It will also remove any lumps from the final product. It might seem easier to sew all the pieces together and then iron, but if it is not done in step, the final square will not be aligned correctly.

Now trim the extra material, ending with a final product of 6"x9".

Follow the same steps in order to attach the 10"x3",

and then the 10"x2". Trim the final product to a clean 9"x9" square.

Combine the newly made 9"x9" square with another 9"x9" Daisy square, right sides together and the smaller of the daisy bands facing the top. Stitch along the 2 sides and the bottom. It is recommended to sew all three sides separately, beginning and ending each with a back-stitch. This ensures that if any on side comes undone, not all sides will follow. You now have the makings of a real bag...

The other 9"x9" squares need to be joined together. Sew along two opposing sides, then along the bottom stitch 1/3 of the way, back-stitch, leave 1/3 as an opening and then continue to sew the remaining 1/3. This whole in the middle will allow you to turn the right sides of the bag out, creating a seamless look between the outer casing and the lining.

Next, begin creating the strap. Fold the 2"x13" piece in half, sewing along the full length and one end.

Flatten the strap so that the seam centers down the strap with the iron. This is important, again because it will allow the strap to lay flat when complete and not bunch up.

Using a pointed object (my favorite is a fat paintbrush) flip the ironed material right-side out. Iron flat, again, ensuring that the seam is directly in the middle of the strap. Run a stitch along both sides of the strap to keep it from moving around after the project is finished. I placed my foot right along the edge and positioning the needle to the left.

This purse has only one strap. I positioned the strap just to the right of the left seam, flipped the purse to the back and repeated. Make sure you check that the strap will be correct and not twisted. I also left a bit extra over the edge to make sure it didn't miss while sewing. Pin securely in place.

Insert the outer casing inside of the inner-lining, which is turned inside-out.

Line the seams closely and pin along the top. Sew along the top, unpin and flip the material.

Close the hole at the bottom of the inner lining and tuck the lining inside the outer casing.

Carefully iron the last seam, ensuring that the seam is lined up along the top. Run a finishing stitch that will keep the inner casing tucking inside. I decided to attach a centered ribbon along the back, forming a loop, and a matching Daisy button centered in the front. This will keep the bag closed, if needed, and made it look a bit more finished.

Final product, which I'm rather proud of...

Each one did not take very long to make- and in three evenings, I made all 10. If I had the ability to work continuously and uninterrupted by children and a husband, it wouldn't have even taken that long- but, I must craft around my regular life.

Dried Fruit Decor

My dining room/kitchen area has a homespun decor thing working... slowly but surely. I have it in my mind and it looks awesome. Though it is a slow going process to procure furniture and decorative supplies that meet my mental expectations. I've grown to love and to hate craigslist and the local thrift stores to meet my needs. But my most important resource in creating a homespun look? My own home-spinning self. 


My most recent venture has been in the field of drying fruit for the use of decoration. I was inspired by some gorgeous pictures online. The look is exactly what I wanted and with some research, something I knew that I could procure on my own with very little effort.


Some of my online musings...

Moment's in Thyme "Apple Wreath"

"Apple Delight"

TheKeepersHouse's Dried Apple Wreath

No Meat Athlete's Baked Ornaments

First and foremost, the process of drying fruit must be learned. It is actually very simple- slice your fruits very evenly... not too thick or too thin. Apples look best when you can actually see the star in the middle, if you plan on showing them forward facing. The thicker the slices, the longer it will take to dry- but the skins look awesome when you can actually see them.

Lay your fruit out on a cookie sheet and bake overnight! Online instructions vary in oven settings, 150* seems to be the norm but my oven does not go that low. I baked my slices at 170* for roughly 14 hours- turning them over a few times. I put them in before I went to bed and they were done the next morning when I went to make breakfast. I got up and flipped them over a few times during the night while neurotically checking to ensure my house hadn't caught on fire. Flipping is necessary to ensure that the fruit does not roll up on itself while drying.

If you wish, you can scent your fruit with various spices. First soak your apple slices in lemon juice, enough to ensure the apples have been completely covered. Sprinkle them with a spice mix and dry as previously mentioned.

Spice mix recipe-

8 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Cloves

Some sites call for soaking your apples to keep them from turning brown, but I liked the brownish tinge that some recipes left behind. If you want your apples to remain pretty white- use lemon juice! Some also call for salt to aid in the drying process and preservation. However since not all sites called for it and I planned to seal mine up with spray- I decided to skip it. For me, the process worked perfectly.

After your fruit cools- it is not ready to become decor yet. Let it set out on some drying racks for a few days to allow them to procure and finish drying if needed. They will not be hard but will remain rather rubbery. After 3 days I sprayed my apples and oranges with acrylic clear coat to seal them up. Spray one side, allow to dry for an hour, flip and spray the other side. Best to do this outside and not fill the house with fumes!

After the clear coat has dried, you are ready to decorate! I bought a heart-shaped crafting wreath from Michael's and used a hot glue gun to adhere my fruit. I also made some stars with Cinnamon dough and some red beads to look like berries. I'm quite pleased with what I got and hung it above the back door.

 

If I could, I'd go back and alter the orange slices so that they were not lined up as perfectly as that trio there on the top. But I can live with it.

To coordinate with my fruit-heart wreath, I made a garland strand to hand across the window to the left of the door. Luckily it is the only window in the room and thus pieces together quite well.

 

You can see that I again used the Cinnamon Stars and the red beads. Well... maybe you can't, but they are there. I threaded the garland with a pretty green ribbon to give it some contrast and let the ends hang down from the sides of the swag. I really do think that it ties nicely with the wreath over the door without seeming like I've used too much of the same decor.

See? Very simple yet colorful. I like that in a fruit.