S'mores Snack Mix

This was a treat I made for Spiderman and a couple of the neighborhood kiddoes.  I already had the chocolate chips.  The mini marshmallows were only a couple dollars, as were the teddy bear cookies.  Once again, I like bang for the buck!  It only took a few minutes to make, and the kids were VERY impressed(chocolate, grahams and marshmellows are all wins). 

The only thing I would caution is to leave PLENTY of cooling time.  It took forever, and I ended up tossing it in the fridge.  The issue was that I used chocolate chips that you'd use for making cookies.  The chocolate is designed to stay kind of melty after baking.  Next time, I will be sure to use candy melts.  Also, the teeny marshmellow bits are NOT with the marshmellows.  They are over by the hot chocolate mixes(save some search time).  You can find full instructions here---  http://cookiesandcups.com/smores-snack-mix/  PINTASTIC!!!

Candy Corn Math

I have been "homeschooling" Spiderman with another kiddo his age this Fall...  I am always looking for new ideas, especially ones that cost VERY LITTLE.  Repetition is key, right?  So, I stumbled upon this idea, and I love it!!  It was very simple.  Took only a couple minutes.  The kids loved it.  We are working on "4."  So, I made 4 of them with 1, 2, 3, and 4 on them.  We practised some subtraction by having them count how many were left when they ate a candy corn.  The blog has a ton of great ideas.  Find it at notimeforflashcards.com.  PINTASTIC!!

Halloween Candy Wreath

So...  I am all about a big bang for my crafting buck(and time).  I pinned this, I think, last year.  However, I never found the time or energy to get it done.  We moved into a new home this year, and when I looked through my Halloween Board, I knew this one was perfect for Spiderman(my son) and I to take on...  It's also good for letting the neighbor kids know where the fun house is. 

I grabbed a foam wreath for a couple dollars and one of the BIG bags of candy at Walmart.  I chose the one with no chocolate so that I would not be tempted.  It was less than ten dollars, all told. 

We sat down and hotglued candy all around.  I started with the big stuff, and then filled in the holes with the smaller stuff.  It took about an hour, and it was a BLAST for Spiderman and I. 

The neighbors have all commented on how much they like it, and the kids?  Well...  I have a stash of leftovers to keep them from picking at it.  LOL  The project went well and looks great.  Just be sure to use enough candy and really get it filled in.  This one is PINTASTIC!!! 

North Pole Breakfast

Last year I was looking for a way to introduce the Elf on the Shelf tradition in our house. So, of course I turned to Pinterest and found the idea for the North Pole Breakfast. This blogger did an amazing job and I just tried to do the best I could.

I did the breakfast the weekend after Thanksgiving. We usually decorate the house Thanksgiving weekend so I knew we would have everything up. I started purchasing all the knick knacks in November. We talked it up so Henry knew that the Elf was coming at the breakfast.

It was like Christmas morning when he came down the steps.

We read the book about Elf on the Shelf and he named him Donald. After the breakfast we decorated our tree.

It was a fantastic morning and I highly suggest making this a tradition in your house.

Ornament wreath

Here is how the wreath started:

You take a wire hanger and ornaments that do not shatter and thread them onto the hanger. I went to the Dollar store and just picked through what they had. I bought about three different sizes and used red, green, silver and gold. In the tutorial they say to hot glue the tops on but I couldn't get them off to glue them. I did lose some ornaments later when I was moving them around but only about three popped off. I couldn't see a hole so I just let it go.

This is what the wreath looked like when I ran out of ornaments:

Back to the Dollar store I went hoping they still had some more ornaments that I had bought. Thank goodness they did and here is what the finished wreath looks like:

I just used a command strip to hang the wreath over the fireplace. I know it turned out great when even Charlie is impressed with my work. He even brought Henry over to look at it.

The whole project probably cost me under $10 and maybe took me less then an hour. I used close to 80 ornaments but they were all in packs of 5's or 7's and then the really small ones I used as fillers were packs of 14.

I'm really happy I decided to do this craft. It was fun, easy, cheap and looks great!

Berry Monogram: Pintastic!

As I was pulling together our winter and Christmas decorations last year, I realized that we no longer had a wreath for our front door. Living in a condo with shared stairway access means that we need to keep door decorations on the smaller side so that whatever hangs does not get banged up as our neighbors pass by with bags. This Berry Monogram tutorial I had pinned earlier in the year seemed the perfect solution, and fed my love for monograms: http://www.ourunexpectedjourney.blogspot.com/2011/11/let-decorating-begin.html



I found the letter at JoAnn's for around $2, an $0.89 bottle of red acrylic paint and purchased a berry garland to cut up from the floral department. In all honesty, I purchased two garlands plus some berry picks, not knowing how much I'd need. Let's just say I have enough leftover to make at least one more of this project (or three). One garland would have been plenty!

At home, I painted the monogram red. While that was drying, I clipped different sized bunches of berries from the garland using wire clippers. When the letter was completely dry, I used a hot glue gun to attach the berries. As I went, I chose pieces/bunches that would conform to the shape of the letter and filled in the center after it was outlined. Wherever there was a bare spot, I simply broke off a few berries, added a dab of glue and squeezed them in for fullness.



Once completed, I looped the wired ribbon around the top of the B, tied a bow and added it to our wreath hanger. Easy and loved the finished product!

Project time: 1.5 hrs
Cost: $10 (using coupon/sales)
Supplies:
MDF Monogram
Berry picks or garland
Acrylic paint to match berry color (optional)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Wide wired ribbon
Wire cutters and/or heavy duty shears

http://pinterest.com/pin/267612402828631855/

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Last night I decided to try this recipe for baked garlic brown sugar chicken. I followed the recipe to the 

Click for original recipe

letter. It's a super easy and simple recipe that only takes four ingredients (including the chicken!) It smelled amazing. The brown sugar/garlic mixture was more like a rub texture than a sauce, so we rubbed it into the chicken on both sides before putting it in the oven. I cooked the chicken for the recommended amount of time. It came out great. As you can see from my pictures, the sauce around the chicken burnt.  I think this could be rectified by adding water to the pan.

The chicken was good. On the outside. It was pretty bland inside though. My husband and I both decided that it would be better if the chicken were marinated in this mixture for a few hours before baking it (or grilling!). The sauce is delicious, but you don't get the full flavor of it by cooking it on the chicken for twenty-thirty minutes. I'll keep the sauce recipe, but next time we'll try marinating the chicken first.

Spicy [Chicken] Tortilla Roll Ups

 I was really excited about this pin for Spicy Chicken Roll Ups found on this blog. I literally had pin-nesia and pinned it four different times because every time I saw it, I wanted to eat my screen. As the resident Vegetarian of our board, I knew I was going to have to make a few changes to the recipe.

The first time I made it, I subbed a can of drained black beans for the chicken. It made my wraps watery and they were difficult to roll up but they were still delicious. The second time I made them with refried beans and they were a thousand million times better! They rolled up nicely, they stuck together well, and they were like crack. I made them for a game night and every single roll up was gone by the end of the night. Even our non-vegetarian friends were obsessed with them. They are just the right kind of spicy. Not burn-your-mouth-hot, but completely flavorful. They are so easy to make, even my husband can do it!

Super Delicious Spicy Roll Ups

Verdict: Super Pintastic and a hit with everyone.

-AM

Chicken 'N Dumplings

As a true Southern gentleman, my husband loves chicken and dumplings. As a true Southern belle, I should know how to cook it, right? Well, I've always been too scared. I remember my grandmother rolling out dough for hers, and that alone intimidated me enough to not try it. My other grandma makes her dumplings by cutting out tortilla strips, soaking them in water, and covering them in flour. My sister has started making her chicken and dumplings this way, and although I couldn't taste the difference, my husband wouldn't let me try it that way because he wanted it ROLLED OUT like his MAMA did it! I called his mama close to his birthday to get her recipe, because he requested it for his birthday dinner, but she advised against making chicken and dumplings because I would be cooking for a crowd and she said that it didn't always turn out right. This further intimated me. So I made something else and took him to Cracker Barrel later on to get his chicken and dumplings fix.

I pinned this recipe immediately when I saw it, because the description promised a chicken and dumpling recipe done in the crock pot, and my goodness, does it look delicious. One cold February morning when my whole family was home, I decided to attempt these crockpot chicken and dumplings for our lunch.

Recipe

I clicked on the picture to look at the recipe. And guess what, IT'S NOT A CROCKPOT RECIPE. I don't know who originally put that description, but I've seen a million of my friends pin this recipe since then, and it ALWAYS has in the description that it's a crockpot recipe. I used to comment on everybody's pin and correct them, but I got tired of doing it, so I decided they could learn the hard way like I did.

And I forgive whoever posted that description in the first place. Why? Because this recipe is friggin' delicious. So much so that my husband now brags about my chicken and dumpling cooking abilities, and I feel like a rock star because I can make this shizz from scratch, JUST LIKE MY MAW MAW. :) The recipe I linked is accompanied by a wonderful picture tutorial, and it managed to ease the anxiety and stress I felt over making dumlings before I even attempted them. If you like Cracker Barrel's chicken and dumplings, make this recipe. NOW!

To Note:
-I would say that J's mom is wrong and they do turn out the same if you make them following this recipe.  I've made them several times since I first tried it and they always have turned out well.
-My sister insists her way with the tortilla strips is easier, and although it tastes the same, I don't think it's any less work. Both recipes use a lot of flour and make a huge mess.

My Version, served over rice.
Not as juicy looking as the original picture, but damn delicious!

Verdict: Pintastic x100!!!
-Betsy

Hocus Pocus, or "Resurrection" Rolls

I had been seeing this pin float around Pinterest, but I resisted pinning it for quite a while. Lord knows why, because I love bread. Anyway, once I did pin it, I couldn't get it out of my mind. I had a certain idea of how these rolls would taste, and I just had to cook them.

Recipe

I've seen these rolls called two things: "hocus pocus" rolls because a marshmallow supposedly disappears inside of them, or "Resurrection" rolls because you can tell the story of Jesus's resurrection as you prepare the rolls with your children. The story is detailed in the blog I linked to the above picture, but off the top of my head I remember the dough representing the Jesus's tomb, and Jesus is represented by the marshmallow. When you break the bread open after it's cooked, you'll notice there is no marshmallow anymore. Just like Jesus wasn't in the tomb after three days. Love the idea of the story, but there was no way I was waiting until Easter to make these rolls. My baby is only eight months old, so she sat in her high chair while I explained the story of Jesus to her...because I felt bad about making something related to a Bible story and not including it!

Well, mine didn't turn out quite like the above. And I COULD see the marshmallow after I baked it, because it leaked out everywhere, even though I was careful to pinch the dough together. Also, I learned that I don't really like cinnamon. My fingers were coated with the melted butter/cinnamon mixture while I was preparing the rolls, and it smelled like I had dug around in a piggy bank. My husband wouldn't try a roll, and I was disappointed with mine. Not like I had imagined at all.

My Version

Are you disappointed because you had the ingredients and wanted to try it? Here are the croissants I blogged about a while back:

Here's a better recipe with similar ingredients!

Verdict: Pintastrophe
-Betsy

White Chicken Enchiladas

I found this pin a few weeks ago and loved the step by step directions. It reminded me that I used to cook chicken enchiladas for my husband all the time using his mom's recipe, but I haven't done it in quite a while because I stopped liking to cook. Well, Pinterest has renewed my interest in cooking, so I decided to try this recipe:

Recipe

It turned out pretty good. As Louisianians, we love very spicy food and this wasn't as spicy as we would have hoped for. Maybe Rotel would add a lot to the sauce. Also, I didn't add the corn. I don't think it's something we'll have ALL the time, but it's good once in a while. Great weeknight dinner!

My Version

Verdict: Pintastic!

-Betsy