I just made FREE cards for Father's Day from Shutterfly! Use the code DADCARD at checkout and you can get 5 fee 5 x 7 cards. Check mine out here. 5x7 Folded CardView the entire collection of cards.
06/04/2011
11/10/2010
01/25/2010
A Week of Recipes...
I enjoy cooking and baking, but before I was a SAHM it was very few and far between when I had the opportunity to try new recipes, or create new dishes. Now that the kids are getting older, and I'm at home, I'm enjoying being able to see a recipe and try it. I'm still not good at taking pictures, but below are a few examples of what I've been cooking up...
- Olive Garden Tuscan Soup--after I had a delightful lunch with my daughter last weekend at Olive Garden (I had the soup and salad lunch) I couldn't resist trying it myself. It tasted just like the original!
- Southwestern Chicken wonton cups (pic below) and Creamy Chicken Wonton Cups (recipes at the end of the post)
These were a hit with my 4 year old (my picky eater), but my two year old didn't quite know what to do with them. They're fairly healthy, brown rice, chicken, black beans, corn and baked wontons.
- Black Bean Dip-this was to use the leftover up from the black beans from the wonton cups and to encourage the kids to eat a few more vegetables. Again, my daughter loved the dip, but my 2 year old wouldn't try it. We ate it with tortilla chips, and also tried it with carrots, and cauliflower--I actually preferred eating it with the vegetables since the dip was VERY flavorful and the eating with the chips almost was too much flavor.
- Soft Pretzels -- the recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. If you've ever tried pretzels and didn't love the outcome, I would suggest you give these a chance. They looked professional, and tasted just like you'd expect!
What recipes have you tried lately?
Southwest Chicken Wonton Cups
1 pkg. Wontons
A mini-muffin tin
Some non-stick spray
Spray the min-muffin tin. Take the wontons and gently press them into the muffin tin. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes,they'll brown lightly.
Now you can fill them with a combination of fillings, but here's what I used. You can't fit that much stuff in them, so they'd be great appetizers.
Filling
1 c. Cooked brown rice
1/2 c. black beans
1/2 c.corn
1 c. cooked seasoned chicken (I used taco seasoning)
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Take the chicken, corn and black beans, combine and warm through. Take the rice and add a little to the bottom of each cup, then add the chicken, bean and corn mixture. Top with a little shredded cheese.
1 pkg. Wontons
A mini-muffin tin
Some non-stick spray
Spray the min-muffin tin. Take the wontons and gently press them into the muffin tin. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes,they'll brown lightly.
Now you can fill them with a combination of fillings, but here's what I used. You can't fit that much stuff in them, so they'd be great appetizers.
Filling
1 c. Cooked brown rice
1/2 c. black beans
1/2 c.corn
1 c. cooked seasoned chicken (I used taco seasoning)
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Take the chicken, corn and black beans, combine and warm through. Take the rice and add a little to the bottom of each cup, then add the chicken, bean and corn mixture. Top with a little shredded cheese.
Creamy Chicken Fried Wontons
1 pkg wontons (I actually split the pkg between the two recipes)
3/4 c. Cooked chicken
1/2 c. cream cheese
1/4 c. sour cream
3 T. chopped green onions
1 clove minced garlic
small cup of water
4 T. parmesean cheese
(I'm guessing at measurements because I didn't measure)
Chop or shred the cooked chicken. Combine it with sour cream, cream cheese, garlic and green onions. The mixture should be creamy, add more or less of the ingredients to get to the desired consistency.
Take a wonton and put a small amount of filling into it. Wet the edges of the wonton with some water and press into a little packet. Repeat until the filling is gone, or you run out of wontons.
Melt some butter into a pan, and add the wontons. Brown the wontons on both sides.
While the wontons are still warm sprinkle a little parmesean cheese on them.
I had a few wontons left so I did a couple extra cups and just put them in a baggie--I think they'll keep a day or two.
1 pkg wontons (I actually split the pkg between the two recipes)
3/4 c. Cooked chicken
1/2 c. cream cheese
1/4 c. sour cream
3 T. chopped green onions
1 clove minced garlic
small cup of water
4 T. parmesean cheese
(I'm guessing at measurements because I didn't measure)
Chop or shred the cooked chicken. Combine it with sour cream, cream cheese, garlic and green onions. The mixture should be creamy, add more or less of the ingredients to get to the desired consistency.
Take a wonton and put a small amount of filling into it. Wet the edges of the wonton with some water and press into a little packet. Repeat until the filling is gone, or you run out of wontons.
Melt some butter into a pan, and add the wontons. Brown the wontons on both sides.
While the wontons are still warm sprinkle a little parmesean cheese on them.
I had a few wontons left so I did a couple extra cups and just put them in a baggie--I think they'll keep a day or two.
01/15/2010
01/02/2010
01/01/2010
Christmas Projects
Each year I aspire to make a bunch of Christmas gifts for people, hoping they'll love them as much as I do. This year being a SAHM for the first time I had a little more time to actually fill that aspiration. Here's a few pictures of the projects I accomplished.
French Press Felted Slippers
These are the cutest slippers if I do say so myself. I made 4 pairs (another black pair with a different set of buttons is not pictured). Fairly easy pattern, and a very impressive gift. For more information check out French Press Knits.
Felted Change Purse
The purple change purse on the right was a present for my daughter. She had admired mine and I thought it would be a nice surprise to knit one up for her. The one on the left was supposed to be a gift exchange gift, but I changed my mind so its now in my extra pile.
Ice Cream Cone Tape Measure
This was another gift for my daughter. This pattern came from the Betz Whitebook Warm Fuzzies. It is a tape measure if you pull on the cherry out of the top of the ice cream cone. My daughter was constantly playing with mine so I decided she might enjoy her own.
Lotion Stick/Bar
These were gifts for the aunts/grandma's and female neighbors this year. Its called a lotion stick or lotion bar depending on the shape. I had seen the recipe on Cathie Filian's blog but ended up using the recipe and getting all of my supplies from The Sage. They were a hit! I think the labels made it--my sister (a graphic designer helped with those). I plan on making more, I still have plenty of ingredients left--or maybe I'll try another recipe from there...stay tuned.
Spice Rub
These were gifts for the uncles/grandpa's and male neighbors. I used a recipe from Martha Stewart's website. Earlier in the year I had given this as a host gift and thought it was a great guy gift so I resurrected it for Christmas.
Did you make any interesting projects this year?
12/28/2009
Christmas Card Picture Recycle
Since I've had kids and starting sending Christmas cards consistently, I realize how much time and effort not to mention money people spend on Christmas cards. So a few years ago I decided to recycle them in a way that we could use them all year long. Its turned into a yearbook of sorts, I use it to point out friends kids when we're going to visit them. The kids also use it to help them remember activities we've done with different families.
Choose a small photo album--4 x 6 will do. I have a small one that I got on clearance from a store a few years ago.
Separate your Christmas cards by choosing any pictures of friends and family that you'd like to use.
Take a photo card and trim off any excess that won't fit in the 4 x 6 album.
Before:
Repeat this with all of your photo cards, inserting them into the album when they're the correct size.
Now you have a photo album that's perfect for your kids. (My little guy was pulling it out of my hands before I could finish!)
that's how you know it's homemade
I am a SAHM who attempts to be creative, while keeping in mind that it doesn't have to be perfect.
