Friday, February 5, 2010

Chicken Empanadas

Something cool is coming tomorrow. My first ever demo project! Come back around for that!
But for tonight....

Chicken Empanadas
--------------------

Ingredients:
-8 ounces cream cheese
-1/4 cup chopped FRESH cilantro
-1/4 cup salsa
-quite a few shakes of ground cumin (you'll learn that I hate measuring)
-a dash of salt
-bit of garlic powder
-2 large boneless chicken breasts, shredded in a food processor
-2 eggs

1. Make your crust dough. You can shortcut this by buying premade pie crust, but that's no fun ;)
2. Heat the cream cheese in a saucepan over LOW heat until melted. Add your cilantro, salt, garlic powder, and chicken. Stir it well, then remove from the heat.
3. Roll out your dough, then use a really large cup (margarita glass, anyone?) to make circles in the dough. Take the circles out, lay aside, then re-roll the remaining dough and repeat the process until all the dough is gone.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with foil. Place roughly 2 tsp of the chicken mixture on a round, placing it slightly to one side. Brush the edges of your round with water (this will help the dough to close). Pull one side of dough over the filling to form a half circle. Pinch to close.
5. Place the empanadas onto your prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with the beated eggs. Bake 16 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve with salso or sour cream (guacamole? ew!)

 

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Twine Heart Wreath

I promised myself I would decorate for Valentine's Day.

I never get into "the spirit" because my step-son's birthday is on that day...and well...I have more important things to worry about!

That being said...I never decorate for St. Patty's Day either. That's also my birthday...

But once I saw this picture over at Someday Crafts, I knew it was time!

A twine wreath? My favorite!

So I purchased these heart forms at Hobby Lobby:
And wrapped my twine around, and wrapped, and wrapped, and wrapped, and wrapped, and wrapped...
hot-gluing as I went.

Then I hot-glued some red ribbon on the back:


And hung it on my kitchcen cabinets!

Lovely :)


So I checked one thing off my February To-Do List!


On a side note...when is Blogger going to put spell-check on the new posting??? I'm soooo sorry if my spelling has been terrible lately. I've realized that it's just a pain to have to switch to the old style just to spell check.
Thanks for letting me vent!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Cookbook Scrapbook

A reader recently emailed me about the cookbook scrapbook in this post.
She wanted to make a family heirloom of her own, so I decided that I would give some tips on how to make one of your own, citing examples from the one my mother-in-law gave to me.

All recipes have been blocked out. Some are family recipes, and I can't give those out!

Asian Dishes
-------------------
This is a recipe for Oriental Braised Chicken and Vegetables.
This one features:
-Chinese (or Japanese?) lettering for the background.
-A bowl and chopsticks for an accent
(When I say "accents," these are things that you can either print from Photoshop, find clipart online, or you can buy the little do-dads from scrapbooking/hobby stores.)
The recipe is printed out, layed on another black piece of paper to create a border, pasted onto the cardstock, with the accent on the top.
Other ways to get the look:
----------------------------
-rice paper for the background.
-Chinese lettering for accents.
-fade a picture of The Great Wall of China and put your recipe right on top of the picture.
-Chinese dragon clipart accent.


Mexican Recipes
----------------------
The next recipe is for Chicken Enchilada Dip.
This one features:
-2 pieces of cardstock. 1 is bright, colored Mexican-themed. The other is a yellow to match.
-Clipart accents of a sobrero, maracas, and afghan.
The background is creating my pasting the skinnier, brighter cardstock on top (all the way to the left) of the yellow cardstock. The recipe is hand-written on a notecard and pasted on the background. Then the accent is layered on top.
This next recipe is for Taco Dip.
This one features:
-Brightly colored cardstock.
-Sticker accents of a sombrero, maracas, pepper, and a Spanish phrase
The recipe is, again, hand-written. The notecard is then placed on yellow cardstock to make a frame, then pasted to the background cardstock. The accents are scattered around the page.



Breakfast Recipes
-----------------
This is a recipe for Oven Denver Omelets.
This one features:
-a distressed-looking background cardstock.
-Chicken accents
-a cute card to print the recipe on.

The recipe is printed on the adorable blank card. That is pasted on the background cardstock, and the sticker chicken accents are scattered across the page (chickens....well....because they make the eggs for the recipe, hehe)

Other ways to get the look:
-omelet clipart
-clipart of eggs
-any country themed background cardstock
-oven accent

This next recipe is for Blueberry Brunch Cake.
This one features:
-Blue background cardstock.
-colorful ribbons of paper
-heart accents
-coffee accents
-blueberry accent
This one is one of my favorites of the book. She used that adorable blank card again. The recipe is printed out. Notice that she included who's kitchen this recipe came out of! The border of the recipe card is mimicked on the background. She made ribbons (cutting different widths!) out of the colored paper. She layed them on top of each other (obviously with the widest on the bottom and the skinniest on top). Then (I believe...) she used a paper puncher or a Cricut to make all the hearts, pasting them around the colored ribbon. Then she scattered the accents across the page.



Thanksgiving Recipe
---------------------
This is a recipe for Bread Stuffing.
This one features:
-Fall-themed cardstock
-turkey accent (this is an actual scrapbook do-dad, not clipart)
The recipe is printed out in the same color that would be used for the frame. The recipe is then pasted onto the frame, then on to the cardstock. The turkey is then pressed below the recipe.
Fairly simple, right?

Other ways to get the look:
-live turkey accents
-any fall colored cardstock (brown, orange, yellow, etc.)

Christmas Recipes
-------------------
This is a recipe for Sugar Cookies. This does NOT have to be Chrismas themed, as sugar cookies aren't only a Christmas thing. Use your imagination and do it however you please!
This one features:
-gingham cardstock with a ribbon accent already printed on it.
-a pre-made recipe card
-red cardstock for the frame
This one's pretty self-explanitory.

This is a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. Again, this doesn't have to be Christmas-themed. It's just that most people make these fun treats during Christmas.
This one features:
-a pre-made recipe card
-Christmas accents made from a Cricut. (the layering technique on it)
-both red and green cardstock for the frame.
-Winter-themed background cardstock
Paste the pre-made recipe card onto the smaller red cardstock, then paste that on the larger green cardstock to make the frame. Paste all of this on your background cardstock, then add your Cricut accents.




Other Fun Ideas to Use in Your Scrapbook:
----------------------------------------------
-Make the recipe, take a picture of it, print it out, then paste that in your scrapbook like the commercially printed cookbooks do. That way people know what it's supposed to look like.

-Paste in a picture of the person who originally created the recipe.



Hope this helps everyone to create their own family heirloom!

Monday, February 1, 2010

February To-Do List

A brand new month, hurray! I saw this post at Craig, Blair, and Turbo Skousen, and it made me want to jot down what I want to accomplish this month. At the end of the month, maybe I'll recap!

1. Finish the bathroom closet. I am going to LOVE having my things back in order.
This is what it started out to be. Stick around, I'm almost done demo-ing and creating!

2. Throw a killer birthday party for my step-son. The big 1-0 this year!!
This is from last year:

3. For one day, be completely caught up on laundry, clean sheets and all!
4. Decorate for Valentine's Day for the first time ever!
Yes, I'm jumping on the heart wreath band-wagon! Stick around for that one, too!
5. Take a decent/profession-looking/awesome self-portrait for my blog.

What do you want done this month?

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Lime Jello Salad

I just received a recipe from an awesome reader, and I would like to share it with you.
This is what she said...


Lime Jello Salad (for Christmas)


*2 small pkgs lime jello
*1 small pkg lemon jello
*1-1/2 cups boiling water
*1 16 oz carton cottage cheese
*1 can crushed pineapple (including the juice)
*1/2 pint whipping cream, whipped
*maraschino cherries, well-drained & cut in half, save the juice
*nuts chopped






Dissolve the 3 pkgs of jello in the boiling water.
 Stir in the remaining ingredients, one at a time. Be careful not to get any cherry juice mixed in with the jello to muddy up the color.
When everything is stirred together, pour into glass pyrex dish (I use the large oblong one).
Carefully place in the refrigerator.
When it's started to "set", remove from the fridge, and dip the tines of a fork into the remaining cherry juice, and sort of splatter the juice onto the top of the jello to add some color to it & make it pretty.
Place jello salad back in the fridge.




Doesn't that sound so yummy? I love the juice splatterings. That sounds so fun to do!

If you want to know more about this master chef, check out her blog, A Bee In My Bonnet. Tell her I said "hi!"


 
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