New Pendant & Bracelet Sneak Preview

Here is a little peak at a couple of new projects I have been working on. There are new stamped bracelets that I am loving - the one I have on is copper & has the word PEACE on it and it is about 1/2" in size.

The pendants are all initials and remind me of typewriter keys or wax stampings.

I will have both of these at the Craftacular on February 13th.

"Beef" & Mushroom Lasagna

This was a recipe I found on the Campbell's Soup coupon page in Sunday's paper. It sounded easy & good so we tried it right away.



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1 can (10 oz) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/4 c milk
1 pound beef - I used Morningstar Farm Sausage Crumble instead - yummy!
2 cups spaghetti sauce - I used an entire small jar
9 cooked lasagna noodles
1 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian-blend cheese


-Heat oven to 400, Stir milk & soup in a bowl until smooth
-Brown beef in a skillet on med-high once beef or brown (or faux meat is heated) stir in the spaghetti sauce.
-Layer 1/2 of the beef mixture, 3 noodles & 1 cup of the soup mix in a 9x9 (or 8x8) pan.
-Then put on 3 more noodles, rest of beef mixture, the last 3 noodles & the rest of the soup mix.
-Sprinkle with cheese & cover with foil.
-Bake 30 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.


Then viola - it's done! It was good & easy and it was great reheated for lunch the next day.

A New Project - That I Don't Love

Have you ever made a project that you just didn't love? Well this week I did. I was very excited to make plant markers for the spring & summer. I thought they would be so cute sticking in a garden, or planter or in a little herb garden. I thought I'd put the names of plants on them & then cute sayings like "my garden" and "love grows here".

Well, I made some of them this week. They just aren't as cute as I had hoped they'd be. I had 2 real silver spoons & they were cute - but just because the spoon was. I also used a few newer spoons & they were kind of blah.

I was sad this wasn't a project that I had fun making or that was really cute, but hey - it happens!

Good thing I made cute new headbands and other goodies recently! Also there is a new initial pendant in the works. I am hoping to have some for the show! I will leave you a picture of my not-so-great plant pokes. Have a good night all.

Craftacular Goodie Bag

So for the Craftacular show the first 25 shoppers will get a goodie bag filled with all sorts of fun. Here is my goodie for the bags - I made flower suckers. I think they turned out pretty cute. I used my mom's scrapbook paper (thanks mom) and last night Audrey & I cut up a bunch of flowers with my Sizzix machine - I forget how much fun that thing is to use.

I attached my business card to them as the leaf.

I am also planning on making these for Audrey's preschool for Valentines Day . I think I will get a planter & put floral foam in it & then stick the "flowers" in it.

Busy Bee - Fresh & New!

Well, I've been a busy bee lately.....I have been getting ready for the Valentine Craftacular in Madison on February 13th (more info & pics on that later). I have a couple of new bracelet styles and new skinny headbands (they are my new love). There are also new hair clips & rings. There are stylin' new girl onesies in the works as well as book marks & plant pokes/markers. If only sleep wasn't so important I might have a shot at getting my to-do list done! HA!

In addition to my new goodies I also have new display cards and shop banner(see photo) that were designed by http://www.juliehoogdesigns.etsy.com/ she has been so nice & helpful to work with.

And for cooking news - I have had some really GOOD LUCK with recipes lately! I will be posting more keepers soon (and they are really good!)

Easy Sweet & Sour "Chicken"

1 pkg Boca Chicken Nuggets (10 oz)

2 cups frozen veggie mix - I used a stir-fry mix

1 can 8oz pineapple chunks (juice drained & saved for later)

1/2 cup sweet & sour sauce

1/4 cup water

2 tsp cornstarch (I was out & used flour)

2 cups cooked rice

Bake nuggets according to package. I used Boca nuggets as I don't eat meat, you can use whatever floats your boat though.

While the nuggets cook bring the veggies, drained pineapple, sweet & sour sauce and water to a boil on the stovetop on medium-high heat, cover then simmer on medium-low heat until heated thru - stirring often.

When the veggies were simmering I cooked my rice - I used instant rice.

Also mix the cornstarch (or flour) with the saved pineapple juice until blended.

Add the pineapple juice to the veggies on the stove, cook for 1 minute, stir constantly.

When the nuggets & rice are all done put the rice on the plates, put nuggets on the rice & the sweet & sour veggie mix on the top.

ENJOY!

Here is a photo of our yummy dinner

In a Food Funk?

Well we sure were! I was tired of making (and eating) the same old recipes. So I have started making a new recipe at least once I week. I will share the keeper recipes with you...I will try to get a photo of each as well as I intend on making a "Mom's Cookbook"for each of the girls.

Here is my first entry....

Broccoli Cottage Bake

16 oz cottage cheese

16 oz frozen broccoli thawed & chopped (I used all broc)

(or 10 oz broccoli & 7 oz red peppers - it's up to you!)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

4 eggs, beaten

3tbs Parmesan cheese

3tbs dry bread crumbs

Heat oven to 350f

Mix all ingredients until well blended

Pour into 9" pie plate (spray plate with cooking spray)

Bake 45 minutes or until center is set

Let sit 10 minutes & serve

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We served this with melon & toast for dinner. It was really good & easy and could also be a breakfast food.

Cha-Cha-Chia

So Audrey had a little chia-bee that she has been growing & patiently waiting to cut his hair. It was finally time for the buzz-cut (ha ha).

She had a good time & Syd just watched as Audrey went to town.

Haiti- -Easy Way to Send Help

The Red Cross has made it VERY EASY to send a donation to help the efforts in Haiti.

Simply text the word Haiti to #90999 and you will donate $10 to the Red Cross - they will even just put it on your next cell phone bill........

Yummy Treats

So this weekend Audrey was given a neat cake decorating tool (it is a battery operated icing-frosting easy bake oven one) as a gift.

Tonight I decided to make brownies & she wanted to frost them with her new baking tool.

She let Sydney help her put sprinkles on them after Audrey frosted them. It was an interesting event :)

The tool is pretty neat you fill the tube really easily with frosting & then just clip it in to the pen, put a tip on (they just screw on) and then press the button & the frosting comes out.

Here is the end result when you let a 3 year old frost brownies & a 18 month old put sprinkles on them....

And the little ones enjoying their hard work....

Bird Seed Ornament Tutorial

The other day the girls & I made ornaments for our little birdie friends.
Here is an easy way to do it:

Gather you supplies-

A dish of birdseed (we had 2 - one for each)

I used rye cocktail bread (leftover from an appetizer)

Peanut Butter

Skewer - or something to poke a hole in the bread

String - something to hang the ornaments on

First, spread peanut butter on the bread

Second, dunk the bread PB side down into the dish of seed

Third, poke a hole in the bread with your skewer & put your string thru

Then hang out on a tree or bush in your yard & watch the birds flock to them

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

So I made my first (I think) pot pie last night.....it was good & SO easy! Here is the recipe:

2 refrigerator pie crusts (they come in a package of 2)
1 can roasted-garlic potato soup (the recipe used cream of celery)
1/4c water
3c frozen mixed veggies (I steamed them for a few minutes first)
3 frozen chicken patties - I used Boca- coarsely cut up
1/4t pepper
1/4c shredded cheese

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Preheat oven to 400
Spray pie plate with cooking spray, unroll & lay in 1 pie crust
I steamed my veggies in the micro for 4 minutes since they were frozen
Combine all ingredients in a bowl (except for pie crusts), mix
Pour mixture into pie crust
Unroll 2nd crust & lay on top of the pie plate. Seal the edges.
Cut a few steam slits into the top of the crust

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until crust is nice & brown.

Enjoy!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all!

We spent a nice & relaxing New Years Eve at our friend Michelle's house. She had good food & LOTS of toys to play with - the girls were in heaven!

We also went to visit my Aunt Jody & Uncle Gerry yesterday. Mikel (her son - my cousin) and his girlfriend were up visiting from Chicago. He made an amazing sledding hill - I have not seen anything like it! It was long & had twists & turns and we all had a blast on it - I of course forgot my camera - so I can't show you how great it was.

I will be spending the day finishing cleaning the front room (we took the tree down) and cleaning my work space. I want to make things & feel creative, but in my disaster work space nothing was getting done.

Have a great Sunday!