Sweet Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients:
1 C flour
1 C cornmeal
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C honey
1 t salt
3 1/2 t baking powder
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1/2 C buttermilk
2 T vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 380.
   
2. Put liners into 12 cupcake slots (or spray the slots with nonstick spray).
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, slat, and baking powder.
   
4. Add the egg, milk, oil, and honey then stir until well mixed.
5. Pour batter into cupcake slots.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
   

My Love Affair Continues

I love having frozen spinach!

Seriously, you may remember that I bought a bunch of fresh spinach and wondered about whether I could freeze it and then I decided to just freeze it fresh. I learned that you shouldn't thaw it out before using it but steam it or cook with it straight from the freezer.

I have been making this delicious spinach pasta using the frozen spinach ever since. It works great.

Saturday I decided to make spinach-chicken-alfredo calzones. I took two bags of my fresh/frozen spinach and while still frozen and in the bag I broke up the pieces of spinach (so much easier than cutting it) and then poured it right into the sauce. Oh, so yummy! Fresh taste, convenient, nutritious, economical ... what could be better?

Yeah, I'm in love with fresh/frozen spinach!

Food Friday: Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Orange Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 (1 lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 1 C coarsely chopped orange sections (about 2 oranges) or you could use a can of mandarin oranges
• 1/2 C diced red onion
• 1/4 C diced green bell pepper
• 1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 T fresh lime juice
• 1 t minced garlic

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Sprinkle pork evenly with 1/4 t salt and 1/4 t black pepper.
4. Add pork to pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side.
5. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 17 minutes*.
6. Let stand 5 minutes then cut across the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices.
7. Combine 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t black pepper, oranges and remaining ingredients.
8. Serve the salsa over the pork.

*You can cook the pork however you like it: grill it, slow cook it in a crockpot, or as directed here.

Matching Purses

For this project I used a pair of Eden's old pants. I used one leg (that had some cute embellishments on it) to make a purse for her Baby-doll. I used the top part of the pants to make a purse with pockets for Eden. Voila! Matching Purses!

We've been on vacation for a while and I really missed my sewing machines. There is much "catching up" to do at home so I won't be taking on any big projects for a while but it just felt really good to do a little sewing. Eden loves these bags and thinks it is so fun to have matching purses with her Baby-doll.

It is SO good to be home!

Food Friday: Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:

2 T minced cilantro (fresh is best)

2 1/2 T lime juice

1 1/2 T olive oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/4 t salt

1 C chopped tomato

2 T chopped onion

2 t lime juice (more)

1/4 t salt (more)

1/8 t ground black pepper

1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Directions:

1. Combine cilantro, 2 1/2 T lime juice and olive oil in a gallon sized Ziploc and knead to mix the ingredients together.
2. Add the chicken breast and let marinade for about 5 minutes.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and then discard the marinade.
4. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/4 t salt.
5. Cook the chicken (on your grill or in a pan or in the oven - however you like it best).
6. Prepare the salsa by combining tomato, onion, 2 t lime juice, 1/4 t salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl.
7. Add the avocado and stir gently.
8. Serve the salsa over the chicken and with rice as a side.

Food Friday: Greek Chicken with Capers and Feta

Got some capers lying around? Try this recipe!
Tired of the same old food? Try this recipe!
Don't want to heat up the house with your oven? Try this recipe!

Have I convinced you?

here we go then...

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 T flour
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 C thinly sliced onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 t of the bottled kind - you know I love that stuff!)
• 1 1/2 C chicken broth (use fat free to make this a low fat recipe)
• 1/3 C golden raisins
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T capers (because they were just sitting around anyway)
• 1/4 C crumbled feta cheese
• 4 thin lemon slices

Directions:

1. Flatten each chicken breast so it is about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Combine flour and oregano in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and mix.
3. Place the chicken breast in the bag and make sure each one is well-coated (do it one at a time).
4. Heat oil in a large skillet (medium-high heat).
5. Add chicken and cook 5 minutes on each side; remove from pan.
6. Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute 2 minutes.
7. Stir in broth, raisins, and lemon juice; cook 3 minutes.
8. Add the chicken back in and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
9. Remove chicken from the pan but keep it warm.
10. Add capers and feta cheese to the pan, stir with a whisk (plastic coated so you don't scratch your pan) until you have a creamy sauce.
11. Top each chicken breast with a generous amount of sauce and 1 lemon slice.
    

Food Friday - Sauteed Apple-Onion Chicken

It is still too hot to turn on the oven, turn on the stove instead. (And if you have one of those outdoor grills with a burner, use that and keep the heat outside!)

Ingredients:

• 2 T flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 t olive oil
• 3 C sliced onion (not chopped, you want long slices of onion)
• 2 1/2 C peeled and sliced apples (Granny Smith work well)
• 1 t Rosemary (dried)
• 1 C Apple Cider

Directions

1. Place flour, salt, and pepper in a gallon Ziploc and shake (after you've closed it of course!).
2. Add chicken, seal, shake until it is coated.
3. heat 1 t oil in a large nonstick skillet (medium heat).
4. Add chicken and saute until browned on each side.
5. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep it warm.
6. Heat another t of oil in the skillet.
7. Add onion and saute 5 minutes.
8. Add apple and rosemary and saute another 5 minutes.
9. Add the chicken back in and then put the cider in and bring to a boil.
10. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until the chicken is done.
    

So Long, Fairwell ...

Announcing a change to Tutorial Tuesdays...

They are no more.

Instead, I will be posting pictures of various projects. These will just pop up on a regular but random basis. You can look at these and let your own creativity go crazy. If people leave comments requesting a tutorial on any given project, I will try to oblige.

What do you think?

Tutorial Tuesday - Easy Lasagna

Have you been asked to take dinner to someone? Here is a really easy (and yummy) lasagna that you can take without having to time it so it is hot when they want it. It can even be frozen before or after cooking.
1. In a medium sized bowl (or in my case, in this cottage cheese container), combine 1 lb of cooked and drained hamburger, 1 can of Hunts Tomato Sauce (reserve about 1/3 C for later), and 8 oz of cottage cheese (you can also use ricotta - or a combination of the two). Stir it up until it looks disgusting.
2. Add your flavor (garlic, Italian spices - which are really just oregano, basil, and thyme).

3. In your casserole dish (this one is 11x7), spread the 1/3C Hunt's Tomato Sauce to barely cover the bottom of the dish. Then layer uncooked lasagna noodles (they don't have to be the kind that claim to be ok for uncooked assembly - every kind of lasagna I've tried has worked).
4. Pour your disgusting-looking meat/cheese/sauce over the top of the dry noodles.
5. Spread Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese (shredded) across the top.
6. More uncooked noodles.
7. More meat sauce, then more cheese. Keep layering until you are at the top of your pan or out of ingredients. End with cheese. You can sprinkle parmesan cheese on the top layer if you want.

8. Cover tightly with tin foil (shiny side down) and write the following instructions on it (with a permanent marker).

It says:
Preheat to 350 degrees
Cook covered for 45 minutes
Uncover and bake 15 more minutes
Let stand for 15 minutes
Serve.

If you want, you can make one of these and just keep it in your freezer (either cooked or uncooked) for those times you need a meal to deliver to someone or even for yourself. You will need to thaw for 2-4 hours if it has been frozen. Once it is cooked, it can be warmed in the microwave.

Food Friday - Basic Granola

Happy Pioneer Day!

One of my favorite things to do on Pioneer Day is to go hiking. When you hike, you need granola (and trail mix). I thought it would be fun to share this recipe from the home storage recipes found here.

Ready?

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 C sugar
• 1 1/2 C water
• 6 T oil
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 10 C uncooked rolled oats

Directions:

1. In a pan, combine the sugar; water; oil; and salt.
2. Heat until the sugar is dissolved, but do not boil. This will make a syrup.
   
3. Put your oats in a large bowl.
   
4. Pour the syrup mixture over the oats and stir until well coated (add a little more rolled oats if you want it more dry).
5. Spread the oat mixture on cookie sheets about 1/2 inch deep.
6. Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes (stir occasionally).
7. Bake up to 15 minutes longer for crunchier granola.
8. Makes 11 cups.
9. Store in airtight containers.

Bonus: How to assemble the most wonderful trail mix!

In a large bowl with a tight lid, combine:

• 2 C of the above granola
• 1 C of your favorite nut (almonds and walnuts are the best for you)
• 1 C of mixed nuts (you want to still get the surprise of a Brazil nut or the yumminess of a cashew).
• 1 1/2 C of raisins
• 1 1/2 C of yogurt covered dried cranberries
• 1 bag of dark chocolate peanut M&Ms

(You can also add pretzels if you want.)

Put the lid on tight and shake, shake, shake.
Store in Ziploc bags. You can freeze this for up to a year (probably more).

Tutorial Tuesday - Personalized Artwork

I had just painted our master bedroom and bath and wanted some art for the bathroom wall. I decided to make some original art and give it to Phil for Father's Day. Here is what we came up with:
1. I bought three Artist Canvases (one for me, one for my daughter and one for Phil):
2. I also bought some basic craft paint in colors that would work well in my bathroom. I bought a combo pack of craft paint brushes.

3. I put the canvas out for my two-year old daughter and then gave her one paint color and all the brushes and watched her go to town. I let it dry.

4. I put the canvas (with one dry color of paint already done) out another day and let her have fun again. I let it dry.

5. Repeat, for the third color. By allowing it to dry I prevented the colors from becoming one yucky mess of gray. You can see the distinct colors. You can do this as many times as you'd like - layering the colors on top of each other until your child has the look they want.
6. For my "artwork" I wanted something geometric. I used a straight edge to get the basic shapes and used round stenciling brushes for the circles. I then printed out my letter "K" from the computer and cut it out then traced around it right on the canvas. I filled it in with the paint. It certainly isn't perfect but I like it.

7. Don't forget to "sign" your artwork.
8. I bought some ribbon to decorate the edges. You can use hot glue or whatever to adhere the ribbon to the canvas edge (I just used double stick tape).
Voila! (Phil hasn't done his yet so we haven't hung them - but he really liked this Father's day gift from his two artistic proteges).

Food Friday: Grilled Asian Chicken and Pineapple

Don't heat up your house tonight! Cook out on the grill instead.

Ingredients:

• 3 T honey
• 3 T soy sauce
• 3 T pineapple juice
• 2 t fresh lime juice (lemon juice can be substituted)
• 2 t peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 2 t vegetable oil
  
• 1 1/2 t curry powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 minced garlic cloves (or 2 t of the bottled kind)
• 1 lb skinned, boneless chicken breast (cubed)
• 1 C red bell pepper (cut into chunks about 1 inch squared)
• 1 1/2 C fresh pineapple (canned can be substituted) cut into cubes
• 4 C cooked rice

Directions:

1. Heat up your grill.
2. In a large Ziploc, combine the honey, soy sauce, juices, ginger, oil, curry, salt, and garlic.
3. Knead to mix the ingredients well.
4. Add chicken and bell pepper pieces.
5. Knead bag again to make sure the chicken and bell pepper are well coated (don't forget to seal your bag!).
6. Thread the chicken, bell pepper, and pineapple pieces alternately onto skewers (bamboo or metal will work fine).
7. Discard the marinade.
8. Place the skewers on the grill rack and cook 10 minutes (or until chicken is done). Turn occasionally.
9. Serve with hot rice.
   

Tutorial Tuesday - Learning Road

It is fairly simple to create a game board like this:
Draw your road:
Cut it out:
Glue it to a piece of construction paper in a contrasting color:
Draw the broken line down the center of the road (you can also draw grass or flowers or something along the side of the road):
Decide what you want your child to practice (in this case it is vowels) and make little signs and then glue along the road:
You can laminate to extend the life of your game board or you can slip in a sheet protector. (Hint: to save on laminate and paper you can do another game on the backside.)

When it is finished you can find some small cars and have your toddler drive and tell you what the signs say or you can say, "drive to the letter E" or whatever you come up with.


We've done this with shapes and numbers and colors. You could also do it with stickers of different animals or pictures of grandparents (if they live far away and you want your child to learn their names) or whatever your mind comes up with. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.

Food Friday - Baked Pears (no sugar added)

Ingredients:

• 2 Cans of Pear Halves in light syrup
  
• 1/2 C Pear syrup (drained from the pear halves - discard the rest)
• 1 C Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 t Corn Starch
• 1/4 t Cinnamon
• 2/3 C Your favorite crunchy cereal (Grape Nuts, Honey Bunches of Oats, Corn Flakes, etc.)

Instructions:

1. Spray a square baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Arrange the pear halves along the bottom of the dish.
3. In a bowl, mix the pear syrup, yogurt, corn starch, and approximately1/4 t cinnamon.
4. Pour yogurt mixture over the pear halves.
5. Sprinkle the crunchy cereal over the top of the yogurt/pears.
6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
7. Let sit for 15 minutes and serve. (Can be served with ice cream or alone.)
   

Tutorial Tuesday - Strap Covers

Does your child get tired of having the carseat or seatbelt strap rubbing against her soft skin? Mine did so I decided to make a faux fur strap cover.

Eden LOVES these and thanked me every day for a week. She kept saying, "mommy made it for Eden, thank you mommy." Now if that isn't reason enough to do a VERY LITTLE bit of sewing, I don't know what is.


Do you want to make one?
Here we go:

Materials:

• Scissors
• Measuring Tape
• Faux Fur (1/8 to 1/4 yard)
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Velcro Strip
  

Instructions:
1. Measure the width of your strap to be covered multiplied by two then add the width of your velcro plus .25 inch. (So, if your strap is 2.5 inches and your velcro is .75 inch you would have 5.75 inch plus .25 inch brings your total to 6 inches).

2. Measure the length you want your covers to be (I recommend at least 3 inches)

3. Cut 2 pieces of your fake fur to your measurements. (For the examples above you would cut them 6" x 3".)

4. Measure and cut two pieces of velcro to fit the length of your strap cover (in our example: 3 inches)
5. Pin the velcro on to the fur. Make sure one of the velcro strips is on the "right" side and the other strip on the "wrong" side of the fur. Like this:
6. Sew the velcro into place using a straight stitch on each side of the velcro or a large zig zag down the middle of the velcro.
7. Remove the pins, put it on the strap and enjoy your child's gratitude.

Food Friday - America's Favorite Pork Chops

Okay, I got this recipe from Cooking Light and I just love how presumptuous the name is. I thought it would be a fitting recipe for this weekend.

4 top loin pork chops
3/4 C Italian dressing
1 t Worcestershire sauce

• Place all ingredients in Ziploc bag; seal; and palce in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or as long as overnight.
• Remove chops from bag; discard marinade.
• Grill over a medium-hot fire, turning once, until just done (about 8-15 mintues)

Calories 210

Tutorial Tuesday - Child's Purse

Eden loves bags and purses and such. I thought this fabric would make a cute one (it is leftover from the diaper changing pad).

What do you think?

Materials:

• Sturdy fabric (I used canvas) 16" x 12"
• Decorative fabric (I just used this cute lady bug cotton) 12" x 12"
• Scissors
• Thread
• Strong Ribbon (for handles)
• Measuring tool (ruler or tape or whatever)
• Pins
• Velcro or other fastener (optional)
  

First of all, cut out your fabric. The black is 16" x 12" and the lady bug fabric is 12" x 12" (in order to make the lady bugs right side up on both sides of the purse I cut two pieces and then stitched them together as seen below - if you have a pattern that doesn't have a right side up you can just cut one piece of fabric):

Fold each piece in half and iron:
The crease will be your sewing line:
Fold both pieces of fabric the other direction and iron again:
Hem your top fabric (my lady bugs) on both the top and bottom (but not sides).

Line up your folds so that the larger piece (my black) is underneath right side up and the designer fabric (lady bugs) is on top also right side up. Pin along the creases and then sew:
I used a zig zag to sew my seams:
Now, put right sides together (your fabric has become one piece now) and sew the two sides. You just created a bag with front and back pockets.

Turn the (black) fabric inside and sew around it (creating a hem for the top of your purse).
Turn the bag inside out and take the bottom points and match the bottom seam with the side seam so it forms a triangle like this:
Sew a seam approximately 1.5 inches in from the point of the triangle - repeat for the other side. Now your bag has a flat bottom.
Sew your straps onto the bag (I did a decorative zig zag on my straps to continue the decorative look). To sew the straps, I do a box seam - I sew about 8 stitches then pivot and sew 8 stitches down, pivot, 8 stitches across, pivot, 8 stitches up. It makes a nice secure seam that also looks nice (I used black so it didn't compete with my red thread).
I chose to sew velcro onto the two sides of my purse so that Eden can fasten it and keep her stuff from falling out. You could do a button or a hook or nothing at all:
The end.

Food Friday - Wrapped Garlic Chicken

Today is the last day of YW Camp - yippee!

In honor of the camping tradition, here is a recipe you can use next time you go camping:

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 large sheets aluminum foil
1/2 t salt
1 C sliced mushrooms
1 can Cream of Roasted Garlic Condensed Soup
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

• Place 1 chicken breast in center of each sheet of foil.
  
• Lightly season with salt.
• Top each breast with equal portions of mushrooms, soup, and rosemary.
• Fold foil in half over chicken; seal all edges with double fold seals.
• Bake at 425 for 20 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink in the center)
  

Although this recipe is for a conventional oven, It would work great on a grill or in a dutch oven or even right in the fire pit (think tin foil dinner!).

Tutorial Tuesday - Picture Tile Wall Hangings

Do you want to make some adorable picture hangings like these?
Let's get started then!

Materials:

• Photos (or other pictures)
• Straight Edge (metal ruler)
• Utility Knife
• First Aid kit (keep it on hand for when you slice your finger using the utility knife)
• Vinyl Tile Scrap (you can usually purchase these at Lowe's or Home Depot)
• Ribbon
• D Rings (you can get these at any sewing or craft center - like Hobby Lobby or Michaels)
• Adhesive (tape, glue gun, or whatever your adhesive of choice is)
• Pencil
• Sewing Machine, Thread, Scissors (or not, if you have another way to fuse two sides of ribbon together)
  
• (optional) Hair Dryer
  

Instructions:
1. Choose what kind of pictures you want and then take some photos (or cut out pictures from a magazine or whatever)



2. Measure your tile slightly smaller than your picture (like 1cm smaller on each side) and then cut it.
2a. Using your pencil, mark the tile on the paper (the stuff that covers the adhesive).
2b. You should cut it on the paper side as well. Use the straight edge and utility knife and make several slices along the same line until you have made it through enough that you can bend/break the rest of it in a straight line. (I just looked online for a good tutorial and didn't find one but I did read several places that indicated it helpful to heat your tile using a hair dryer - I haven't done it but you can certainly try it.)

3. Peel the paper from the tile and place your picture(s) on the adhesive side.
3a. Smooth the pictures so there are no bubbles.
3b. Use the utility knife to trim the pictures so that they are flush with your tile.
4. Decide how long you want your ribbon to be and cut it. You will be folding it over entirely so take that into consideration.

5. Loop the ribbon through the D ring and pin it like this:

6. Using your zipper foot, sew as close to the ring as you can get. If you don't like to sew, you can think of another way to enclose the D ring. Perhaps you could use fusing tape (Stitch Witchery) and iron the two pieces of ribbon together.
7. Adhere the ribbons to the backs of your tiles and hang. (I honestly used Scotch tape - several pieces - to do the job.)

8. Hang on a wall in whatever fashion you want.