Adventure Creations

Blog on Hold

2009-11-30T14:47:00.003-06:00

Just a note to let you know that this blog has been put on hold (as most of you could tell anyway :)...possibly indefinitely. Life is just too busy with 2 little ones right now to work on this blog like I had first intended. Also, our currently slow computer discourages me to post as it takes way too long! My adventures in cooking/recipes, painting, decor, crafts, etc continue even though I'm not posting it. Sorry! Maybe I'll post again one day...who knows at this point. Enjoyed doing it while I could.

Fall Decor Project with Kids

2009-10-28T13:46:00.003-05:00

My son, David, supervised my daughter, Alex, and me as we made Fall decor for the table. After collecting acorns and some acorn hats on a walk/stroll, we separated them on a plate. I put hot glue in the acorn hats while Alex pushed the acorns in the glue filled hats. Then we just surrounded a pumpkin spice candle with them and layered two leaf shaped plates for the table centerpiece. We had a good time and Alex loves to pick up the finished acorns and say, "the hats don't come off now." :)
:)

Finished project...This is actually a modified version of last year's autumn decor project.

Painting for David's Room

2009-07-29T08:32:00.003-05:00

I painted my first canvas for David's room before his arrival (a bit late in posting). Of course, it is amateur, but I enjoyed this new endeavor. Excuse the flash...every angle I tried to take a picture from flashed like this because of the clear coat I put over the painting.

I painted the letters and glued them on to create a 3D look. And please know that we used some special Amazing Goop glue to prevent any letters from falling off. Thanks Ashley for the checkerboard tip on the edges.

David's room and bedding has a safari theme which is why I went with earth tone colors for the painting: chocolate brown, tan, and green.

One of the main reasons I liked the animals is because I remembered how neat it was when our daughter was so little and could look at the animals on her bumper pad. She had a safari theme with animals and daisies in girly colors. She would smile, coo, and talk to them. We loved watching her interact with them which was a bonus because I did not want animals for her initially, just daisies. As you can see, David's bumper pad has animals for him as well.

My nursing nook.

This is our make shift changing table and dresser. It was a hand me down to Chris' brother in law and then he gave it to Chris when he was in high school. We detached the hutch/book shelf and Chris attached a mirror to it.

This wall hanging is what inspired me to paint the canvas. The background of the painting somewhat matches the lion's mane.

Birth Announcements

2009-07-22T14:36:00.010-05:00

The last three months of neglect to this website were filled with final baby preparations, having a baby and adjusting to having a newborn and a toddler. I have been experimenting with lots of recipes, but I have not remembered to take pics nor had the energy to post them. However, I spent tons of what little free time I had for about a week making birth announcements. So, I thought I'd share this project on the site and show some of my followers a picture of our sweet new baby. :) For more pics of him, click on "Journey with the Lee Family" on the side bar.

Making the birth announcements seemed appealing to save money. The average price for a nice announcement was around $2.00 plus postage (I could have gotten them cheaper, but we had to use a new photographer because our photographer friend was out of town for an extended period). I did not want to spend that much so I decided to create my own. It sounded simple in my mind, but the task became HUGE! All this to say, I will probably pay for them in the future as my sleep deprived self did not like spending every waking moment on them for several days. Overall, I did like the final result.

To simplify the project, I took the paper to Kinko's to have cut (8.5x11 sheets cut into 3 columns). I had cut/trimmed the wallet size pics myself and it took a while. However, Kinkos set their cutting machine on the wrong setting which butchered my paper! :( Michael's was the only place that carried the paper in Little Rock and I had bought them out. So, I had to drive to North Little Rock to the Michael's to replace the paper. This was a huge inconvenience and seemed like a waste of time. However, Kinkos did all my services for free because of it and even drilled the holes for me which saved me tons of time. They also offered to cut/trim the transparent paper as well because they felt so bad. I was going to tackle that, but their initial mistake ended up saving me money, time and they definitely cut better than me. In the end, I was thankful they messed up. :) They even refunded me for having to buy the paper twice.

I got my ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I purchased 2 sizes of this transparent sparkly white: a medium width and thin width. The medium width looked better, but I ended up using both sizes to complete the announcements. The pictures are wallet sizes of one of David's newborn pic poses.
Originally, I wanted to print directly on the cardstock. However, I loved this thick light blue metallic cardstock which did not accept toner on it (too slick). Our inkjet printer had trouble with the cardstock because it was extra thick. So, I opted to print on an opal transparent type thin scrapbook paper. Using double sided tape was the cleanest way to attach the pic and transparent paper to the cardstock.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (in a Jar)

2009-04-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

I found this fun recipe on a website called Life123. I wanted to do something creative for the hostesses that were throwing me a baby shower. Since I love food, chocolate and crafts, homemade cookie mix in a jar sounded fun and yummy as a hostess gift. While assembling the jars, I made a batch of the cookies to taste and to bag to put with the jars for the girls to taste the final product before they bake theirs. So, below is the recipe I found and how to assemble the jars.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I believe in sifting flour before measuring to avoid heaviness.)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Assembling Jar:
In a 1-quart, wide-mouth canning jar (mine were not wide-mouth so I made a funnel out of paper to put some ingredients in), layer dark brown sugar, white sugar, cocoa, chopped pecans and chocolate chips. Pack each layer down firmly before you add flour mixture. You will have to pack the flour mixture several times as well for it all to fit. It will all be a snug fit!

Paper funnel...I made 2 - one for white ingredients and the other for dark ingredients

Decorate the jar by tying your choice of ribbon around the lid. I printed out the instructions below on matching cardstock and taped it to the top with each girl's name on top.

Instructions (put with jar for recipient to cook):

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Empty mix into large bowl.
3. Thoroughly blend mixture with hands. I also used 2 knives to mix in a criss cross cutting motion.
4. Mix in 3/4 cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg, slightly beaten, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Again I used 2 knives to mix in a criss cross cutting motion as well as a sturdy spatula. The mixture will be very thick and hard to mix.
5. Shape into walnut-size balls and place 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then move to wire racks.
Yields: ~30 cookies

Tip: I cooked mine 12 minutes. In the future, I would cook them 9-10 minutes as I like them chewier. Secondly, the cookies tasted ok, but something seemed missing and I can't put my finger on it. I plan to undercook them next to see if that would fix the "offness." If not, I will look for another cookie in a jar recipe. I should add that several other taste testers thought the cookies were good and just fine as is, but myself along with a friend felt the same about them.

Chess Squares

2009-03-18T14:21:00.000-05:00

If you like gooey desserts, you'll love this! I got this from a small smorgasboard cookbook some college students from Mississippi College put together for a fundraiser back in 2001-2002. This recipe was submitted by Sloane Fortinberry.

Ingredients (bottom layer):
1 box yellow cake mix (I used butter cake mix)
1 stick butter
1 egg

Mix and pat in a greased 9x13 pan.

Ingredients (top layer):
1 box of powdered sugar (3 3/4 c)
1 8oz. cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together and pour over cake mixture. Bake for 35 minutes on 350 degrees until golden brown. Cool. Cut into squares.

Gadgets

2009-03-03T12:52:00.011-06:00

A couple of months ago, I saw Michael Chiarello use a lime squeezer on the Food Network. I searched online for one as limes are hard to get all their juice out when needed for a recipe. After researching several sites, I found this awesome contraption that juices limes and lemons. So, I went out to buy it from William Sonoma (WS) immediately. The $20 cost seemed pricey, but has been well worth it as I use it a few times a month at least to juice lemons or limes for various recipes. I give the lime/lemon juicer 5 stars.

Another trip to WS for a food technique class introduced me to the avocado pitter/slicer. Since I was planning to do a homemade quacamole last month, I purchased it. It definitely helps with gutting an avocado, but I think some savvy practice with a large spoon (and knife for slicing) would do just as well or maybe I need to keep practicing with my new gadget. O'well...I give this $15 contraption 3.5 stars mainly because the width of an avocado varies meaning the pitter/slicer is not exact.

Please share in the comment section about any kitchen gadgets (and where to find them) that you find helpful. Thanks!

Below are pics and descriptions of my new gadgets from the WS website.

Two-In-One Citrus Juicer

There’s no need for two separate tools to juice lemons and limes when you have this cleverly designed manual juicer. It features a movable two-sided center plate (one side sized for lemons, the opposite for limes) and a unique pressing action: Squeeze the tool’s handles and the citrus is turned inside out, which extracts every flavorful drop of juice but leaves the rind, pulp and seeds behind. Constructed of nonreactive powder-coated cast aluminum. Dishwasher safe. 8 3/4" long. A Williams-Sonoma exclusive.

Avocado Pitter/Slicer

When it comes to slicing avocados, this is the perfect tool for the task. One end of the handy device deftly pits an avocado, while the opposite end creates perfect uniform slices of the fruit’s tender flesh. The slicer/pitter is constructed of stainless steel and heavy-duty plastic. Dishwasher safe. 9 1/2" long.

Spicy Couscous and Vegetables

2009-02-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from http://www.foodnetwork.com/. This side dish is healthy, quick, and easy to make and the delicious combined flavors gravitate you to a second serving or more. The dish gets cold quick so I would put it together at the last minute to complete your meal. I made a few changes to the recipe that I acknowledged below. Also, the original recipe called for 1 small eggplant, quartered and sliced that I did not include. Even though the title says "spicy," it is not spicy hot, it just has various spices in it. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:
- 1 zucchini, quartered and then cut into slices (the original call for 1 small zucchini, halved and cut into slices. i used a regular size zucchini since I was leaving out the eggplant and I cut mine smaller to adapt to my toddler.)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (original recipe called for 2 small red peppers, large dice)
- Olive oil to drizzle over veggies
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups couscous (I used one 10 oz box of Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Couscous.)
- 2 cups chicken stock (I used 2 chicken bouillion cubes. The original recipe called for 2 cups of vegetable stock, but I didn't have any. The chicken bouillion cubes turned out just fine especially since I served this with Italian baked chicken.)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 Tbsp roughly chopped parsley (I used dried)
- 2 Tbsp roughly chopped cilantro
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lemon juice (original recipe calls for grated lemon zest as well. since my lemon was a bit old and hard, I did not use any zest, just more of the juice)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place cut vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in oven and roast for about 10 minutes. Place uncooked couscous in a heat proof bowl and stir in all the spices and orange juice. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and pour over the couscous making sure it covers the couscous mixture completely. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap and leave for 5 to 10 minutes or until all the stock is absorbed. Stir in herbs, olive oil, lemon juice (and zest if zested). Fluff the couscous with a fork and toss with roasted vegetables. Serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

Cake Balls

2009-02-13T16:00:00.006-06:00

A friend told me about cake balls recently so I went online to retrieve a recipe and found this one at http://www.allrecipes.com/. I included tips I found online along with my own in the recipe below to allow for more details and helps along the way. This recipe is very versatile. You can mix and match cake and icing flavors as well as the chocolate coatings. If you want to go the extra mile, cake balls can be rolled in nuts, sprinkles, coconut, etc. or double dipped in white and dark chocolates. I chose strawberry cake mix for Valentine's Day as I wanted the pink center. These were very pretty (pic doesn't do justice), but I'd like to try my favorite cake/frosting flavors in the future. These were yummy desserts/candy and a hit with others, but know they are very sweet! Cake balls are great for parties, showers, bagged for gifts, etc...

Ingredients:

1 package strawberry cake mix (or your choice of flavoring)

1 container prepared vanilla frosting (or your choice of flavoring)

1 11.5 oz package of milk chocolate baking chips (I used Ghirardelli)

1 4 oz bar of white chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)

Instructions:

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended. [I used a 9x13 pan and broke the cake into pieces (after cooling for 30 mins) to get it into my food processor where I blended the frosting with it. The processor was full, but it blended down quickly (pic below). A handmixer should work well, too.]

2. Put this mixture in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 3 hours. (I let them refrigerate for about 6 hrs.)

3. Use a melon baller, small scoop or your hands to form bite size balls of the cake mixture. Place on cookie sheet(s) covered with wax paper. (I used a melon baller to help shape my balls. After doing half of them with this, I realized I still had tons of mix left so I started almost doubling the ball sizes. I made 58 cake balls of various sizes.)

4. Stick the balls in the freezer for an hour (no need to cover).

5. Melt chocolate coating in a glass or metal bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring occassionally until smooth (pic below). If you have an official double boiler, use that.

6. Dip the balls in melted milk chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. (For me, this was the hardest step. The frozen balls tended to hold too much chocolate and not spread evenly without my help of a spoon or brush as the chocolate started to harden quickly. However, if your balls fall off the toothpick into the chocolate, they are not frozen enough. So, I found a small window of time when the balls received the chocolate best. I worked amidst all extremes and coated the balls the best I could with the help of a spoon or brush when needed.

7. Place on wax paper and put in refrigerator to set.

8. Melt white chocolate the same way as milk chocolate.

9. Decorate balls with melted white chocolate. (I used a fork to zig zag designs on the balls. You can be more precise and use a bakers bag and tip.)

More Tips:
* I made 58 cake balls, but did not have enough chocolate to cover about 20 of them. Buy more chocolate or use less. I plan to buy more next time. I had some left over white chocolate from decorating that allowed me to cover some balls.

* If you use the microwave to melt your chocolate, check the chocolate every 15-30 seconds as it will burn very quickly! I recommend the double boiler method for best results.

Cooked strawberry cake and vanilla frosting mixed together in food processor

Cake balls without chocolate coating

Homemade double boiler to melt chocolate. I also melted my white chocolate this way.

Some of the completed cake balls

Sorry!

2009-01-22T14:45:00.003-06:00

I know some faithful readers to this site are wondering what has happened as no updates have surfaced in a while. Due to my family cycling sicknesses for 2 weeks now and still going, I have been on an internet hiatus. I hope to gain the energy soon to cook and post some of the new recipes that I have stacked to try. Thanks for understanding!

Sauteed Spinach

2009-01-04T19:18:00.003-06:00

I saw this dish made on the Food Network on the show Down Home with The Neelys. This may not be the healthiest dish even though it is spinach because you leave the bacon drippings in the recipe. However, it is delicious! Needless to say, I punted my usual turkey bacon for the real thing for this recipe - thick cut hickory smoked bacon. Gotta make one of these every once in a while. :)

Ingredients:

3 slices bacon, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, sliced

2 bunches spinach, well washed and tough stems discarded

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat.

2. Add the chopped bacon and cook until almost crisp.

3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

4. Add the spinach a little at a time. Toss with tongs until wilted.

5. Add balsamic vinegar.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

White Chocolate Mints

2008-12-21T15:03:00.001-06:00

I acquired this candy recipe from a past workmate years ago and had to alter the recipe this year due to a main ingredient being out of stock. The original recipe calls for particular crushed red and green peppermint. I have only ever found it at a specialty store (mainly sells lots of baking items) in Little Rock called Vanness. However, they ran out early this season and were not ordering more. So, I found red and green small candy canes and crushed them for the mint. They worked well. These make great gifts as you can bag a few pieces in small cellophane bags. This batch made about 25+ baggies with about 3 pieces in each. Pic below.

Ingredients:
2 - 12 oz bags of white chocolate morsels
about 38 small candy canes, crushed or 1/2 bag of precrushed red and green peppermint

Instructions:
1. Melt chocolate morsels in a nonstick pan.
2. Take off heat and mix in mint.
3. Pour on cookie sheet. Spread out. Thinning the mix out helps in the breaking process and yields more candy pieces.
4. Sprinkle some mint shavings and cut pieces from candy canes on top to add color as the candy cane does not color the mint like the precrushed red and green peppermints. If you have the colored peppermints, you can opt out of sprinkling any on top as it is quite colorful.
5. Let harden. You can put it in the freezer for a quick harden.
6. Break into desired sizes. I used the tip of a knife and gently put pressure on the candy in the places I wanted it to break. Since this is a very sweet candy, remember not to make the pieces too big.

Small candy canes

Crushed mint

Melted chocolate

Mixed chocolate and mint

Spread out on cookie sheet. Can put wax paper under if want.

Sprinkled mint on top

Broken candy pieces

Bagged for gifts

Gooey Butter Cookies

2008-12-15T20:34:00.002-06:00

I retrieved this yummy cookie recipe from Priscilla Bakes. These are delicious and very moist which is my kind of cookie. The powdered sugar somewhat disappeared on mine while cooking, so I added a little more for garnish when they were done. These make

a great gift as well by placing a few in a cellophane bag.

Ingredients:
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 c. powdered sugar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in egg and vanilla. Add cake mix; stir until well blended. Powder sugar your hands well. Roll balls into 1" or 2" and roll balls thoroughly in powdered sugar. Place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Leave on cookie sheet for 3 minutes or more before removing to cool on wire racks.

Uber Award

2008-12-11T20:35:00.001-06:00

I was very honored and humbled to receive the Uber Amazing Blog Award from Vickie at Uncommon Artistic Endeavors, one of my most favorite blogs. Check out her blog for creative crafts and great recipes!

This award is a blog award given to sites that:
~ inspire you
~ make you smile and laugh
~ or maybe give amazing information
~ are a great read
~ have an amazing design
~ give you any other reason that make make you think they are uber amazing!

The rules of this award are:
~ Put the logo on your blog or post.
~ Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
~ Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
~ Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

Since I am so new to this food blog world, I do not follow tons as I have limited time to research food blogs right now. However, a couple of blogs that I love that I would give this award to have already received this award:

Uncommon Artistic Endeavors - Vickie is incredibly creative with her craft ideas and can create a variety of delicious looking recipes. Vickie was also a big help/encouragement to me when I first started my hobby blog.

Priscilla Bakes - Priscilla is a 17 year old talented girl who cooks in her mom's kitchen. Her recipes look delicious and her blog is full of fun.

Other blogs that I think deserve this award are:

Simply Recipes - I love how this blog is designed. The recipe title is your link to the recipe while only a blog blurb rests under the picture of food until you link to the recipe. This might inspire me to change the look of my blog as I like the more organized home page.

The Skinny Gourmet - This food blogger has found a way to make gourmet dishes in a healthy way. She has some interesting recipes that I can't wait to try.

Enlightened Cooking - This blog sports "original recipes for fast, fresh food with a decidedly healthy bent." Camilla has tons of great light dessert recipes as well.

Spinach Frittata

2008-12-06T08:45:00.002-06:00

My preggo self was craving a frittata, but went blank on how to make it so I googled "frittatas" and used a recipe from Simply Recipes to refresh my memory and get ideas on ingredients. Of course, I tweaked the recipe. I used to make frittatas after we moved back from Australia in 2001 because we met a girl there who was glucose intolerant. Her diet was so restricted, but just about any style of frittata made her menu. Thus, she taught me how to make them. I should add here, frittatas are so easy to make!!!

So what is a frittata? According to Wikipedia, "a frittata is a type of Italian omelette that frequently features fillings such as meats, cheeses, and vegetables. Like a traditional French omelette, a frittata is prepared in a skillet. However, whereas an omelette is cooked on a stovetop and served folded, a frittata is first partially cooked on a stovetop but then broiled to finish and served open-faced." I chose to bake mine as I do not have the proper skillet to put inside the oven for this.

I am going to post my concoction. However, you can put whatever ingredients you want for your liking. I plan to try some different ingredients next time. However, this one turned out yummy, too. I will say this is somewhat chick food as it doesn't contain much meat. My hubbie liked it, but thought it was more of a breakfast/brunch dish. Ladies, you could eat it as a meal though and not think that probably. :) I served it with garlic French bread.

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh spinach leaves (about 1 bunch), cleaned, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large clove garlic, minced (or garlic powder)
~2 oz chopped ham
10 large eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1+ cup grated cheddar cheese
~ 10 cherry tomatoes, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. I let my casserole dish heat up in the oven as it preheated.
2. Cook spinach in 1/4 cup of water for a couple of minutes in a covered saucepan until just wilted. Drain water and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and cheddar cheese. Add in tomatoes and ham. Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Sauté onions and red bell peppers in olive oil in skillet, until translucent, about 2 minutes on medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté a minute further. Add cooked spinach and mix in with onions, peppers and garlic.
5. Spread out spinach mixture evenly on bottom of large casserole dish. Pour egg mixture over spinach mixture. Use a spatula to lift up the spinach mixture along the sides of the pan to let egg mixture flow underneath.
6. Bake for 20-40 minutes, until frittata is puffy and golden. Remove from oven with oven mitts and let cool for several minutes. Because my dish was deep, it took a while for the middle to cook through. Because it was taking longer than planned, we ended up cutting the sides out to eat and put the middle back in the oven to continue cooking. That is why my pic of the frittata is only a slice on a plate as we started eating it before the middle was done. ha!

Olive Cheese Bread

2008-11-23T08:00:00.001-06:00

My friend, Jessica, made this for a play group a long time ago. She directed me to the website where I retrieved it: The Pioneer Woman. This yummy dish definitely satisfies a pregnancy craving, but could be classified as chick food (with a green salad or soup), appetizer (cut into smaller bites) or a side bread item to any dish. It is rich with flavor, but not too overwhelming in my opinion. However, if you don't like olives, you may think it is too strong. If you don't like mayo or butter in things, be encouraged that it is cooked into this and the cheese and olives out flavor it!

Ingredients:

6 oz green olives, cut coarsely
6 oz black olives, cut coarsely
3/4 lb shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 green onions, cut
1 stick of butter, room temp (can carefully bring to room temp in microwave on "defrost" mode; don't melt)
1/2 cup mayo
1 large loaf French bread

Instructions:

Cut olives and and onions coarsely. Mix butter, mayo and cheese in bowl. Add olives and onions. Mix well. Cut French bread in half long ways. Spread the mixture evenly onto each loaf half. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes. Make sure cheese is melted nicely

To Freeze one half: 2 half loaves is a lot of olive cheese bread if you are not feeding many. To freeze one loaf half, flash freeze it first. To flash freeze, put the uncovered olive cheese bread on a cookie sheet and put directly in the freezer for 20 minutes. This hardens the mixture just a bit so that it will not stick when you put the bread in a freezer bag. After 20 minutes, place it into a freezer bag and return it to the freezer for later use. I had to cut my bread in half to fit into a gallon size freezer ziploc. I always label my freezer bags with name of item, date, and basic cooking instructions for easy access later.

Used as a dip: Can refrigerate mixture up to 2 days and use as a dip with Ritz crackers.

Cut olives and onions coarsely. I used whole olives.
Mix butter, mayo and cheese together.
Add olives and onions and mix well.
Cut a large French bread loaf in half long ways. This spread makes enough to cover both halves. I literally used my hands to smear and smoosh the mixture onto the bread to even it out. It seemed easier and quicker than using a spatula. It may look like too much on top, but it will melt and soak into the bread nicely.

Final product. YUMMY!!! I only cooked one half as I froze the other half.

Pork and Lentil Chili

2008-11-20T07:54:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe online in 2003 after watching Chef George Hirsch cook this on tv...I think he was on the Today's Show...don't remember. We love this "chili" as it is hearty, healthy, and yummy. It is very involved as it has several steps and lots of ingredients, but it is worth it. I usually fix it about once a year with garlic bread. It makes a lot so you can freeze some of it.

Ingredients:

1 lb pork tenderloin, cooked and sliced (I bake mine)
1 lb lentils, washed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 head caramelized garlic (my recipe below)
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 each - carrot, celery, red bell pepper, zucchini squash
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup tomato sauce
8-10 cups vegetable or chicken broth (i usually use 10 c)
2 tsp Tabasco Chipotle Sauce
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 ounce tequila (optional) (I leave this out)

Caramelized Garlic: (there are many recipes for this, but this is the simplest method I've found)

Cut the bottom/root end of a garlic head off so that the cloves are exposed. Keep the cloves in the tight outer covering. Drizzle olive oil on them. Bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes. This softens the cloves. Pop the cloves out and they are ready to be used for the recipe.

Instructions:

Rinse lentils in cool water and remove any small stones or twigs.

Heat a large soup pot on medium heat. Add olive oil, onions and garlic; cook for two minutes. Toss in celery, carrot, bell pepper, and zucchini and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add cumin, oregano, basil followed by tequila, lime juice, tomato sauce, and 8 cups of broth, Tabasco, and cilantro; bring to a boil. Add lentils and pork tenderloin; lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add extra broth if too dry.

Can serve with any or all of the following: (I've never served with any of this as I forget after preparing all the other ingredients)
Chopped green onions, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, strips of flour tortillas, chopped tomatos, guacamole, and pita triangles

For a veggie version: omit the pork tenderloin
For a spicy zesty version: top with sliced hot chorizo sausage
For a seafood version: top with cooked shrimp

Rice Krispy Treat Turkeys

2008-11-17T12:37:00.002-06:00

After seeing my friend Jolene's cute Rice Krispy Treat Pumpkins, I decided to try Rice Krispy Treat Turkeys. I researched them online and found multiple versions of them. I modeled mine from Marie LaBaron from website, Alpha Mom, but combined Jolene's recipe and added my twist.

Ingredients:
1 16 oz bag of miniature marshmellows for mixture
extra miniature marshmellows for decorating
10 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal
1/2 c (1 stick) of butter
~4 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips
cooking oil spray
wax paper
toothpicks
Mike and Ike candy
miniature M&Ms
candy corn

Instructions:
Melt butter and marshmellows together until almost smooth. Stir in chocolate chips to color mixture brown. Stir in Rice Krispies Cereal until coated with marshmellow mixture. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. Make round balls and put on wax paper to harden. Cut red (or almost red Mike and Ike candy in half long ways for the snood/gobbler). Use toothpicks with marshmellows or Mike and Ike candy for tail. Use miniature M&Ms for eyes. Use candy corn for nose. Can also use candy corn to make a tail. Yield: 35 balls.

Evaluation and Tips:
These were easy too make, just a bit time consuming once the decorating started. My hubbie pitched in to help which saved some time. Not all of his "turkeys" made it to the fall festival as he started making aliens, too. ha! This would be a great activity to make with kids. Originally, I wanted to make all the tails with fanned out candy corn. However, they didn't stay well so I resorted to toothpick and candy or marshmellows for the majority. Other candy like gum drops on toothpicks would work good for the tail also. Having colored toothpicks or marshmellows would be festive as well, but I didn't have any. I combined 2 recipes and added my own spin here, but one of the recipes called for cocoa krispy cereal to make brown. However, my method of turning the mixture brown works better as white marshmellow mix would leave white streaks in the brown cereal. For those who make Rice Krispy Treats, you will notice the increased amount of cereal, butter and marshmellows used to allow for more treats. Finally, my candy corn noses are backwards...oops. I looked at Alpha Mom blog again and noticed the white tips of the candy corn should be facing out on the noses. O'well...no one knew at the festival, but me. :) To get the candy corn to stay in place best, use a knife to cut a slit, then push them in. One tip for transporting... I individually wrapped each turkey in a ziploc bag as we were giving them as prizes. Originally, I had planned to use clear treat bags with ties or ribbon, but the turkeys were too wide to fit. The ziploc bags worked great and kept the treats from sticking together.

Mixing all together

Ready to decorate

Cream Cheese Week is Over

2008-11-15T20:25:00.000-06:00

Cream cheese week is officially over. However, I have tons more recipes involving cream cheese that I will slowly post over time. I couldn't make them all in one week. So, as they appear, they will be included in the "creamcheesedishes" tag plus other appropriate tags.

Quick Spinach and Artichoke Casserole

2008-11-14T19:03:00.005-06:00

This recipe is from "Take Five: A Holiday Cookbook" by Debbye Dabbs. I love this cookbook as every recipe only has 5 ingredients plus great ideas for various holidays.

Ingredients:
2 (10 oz) packages frozen chopped spinach
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped (you can find this in oriental food section of grocery)

Instructions:
Cook the spinach using the package directions; drain. Cut the artichoke hearts into halves and arrange in a 9x9 inch baking dish (or similar casserole dish). Combine the spinach, cream cheese, butter and water chestnuts in a bowl and mix well. Spoon over the artichoke hearts. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6 servings according to recipe (mine made more)

Evaluation and Tips:
The next time I make this, I plan to chop up the artichokes and mix it in the other mixture before cooking so that the artichokes are throughout and not just on the bottom. This recipe could be used as a dip, too. However, I have other spinach and artichoke dips that I plan to make and post closer to Christmas.

Chicken Crescents

2008-11-12T13:21:00.008-06:00

I wanted to experiment with chicken and cream cheese in crescent rolls for a change up in toddler food a couple of weeks ago. I found a "Crescent Roll Chicken" recipe in Bell's Best cookbook in which I altered/simplified for our liking and to be quicker for making lunch so I changed the name to "Chicken Crescents." I used can chicken for the chicken instead of fresh, 2 cans of crescent rolls instead of one, onion flakes instead of minced onion, and black olives instead of pimento. This was so good that I ended up serving it for dinner one night in which my husband enjoyed, too. However, it makes a great toddler and mom lunch, too....and did I mention...it is very easy! :) Eventually, this would be a great food to make with your children as they can help stuff the mixture in the crescents and close them.

Ingredients:
2 cans crescent rolls
2 (5oz) cans of premium chicken breast or 2 c. chopped chicken
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. onion flakes or minced onion
1 (2.25 oz) can sliced black olives or 1/4 c. chopped pimento

Instructions:
1. Mix cheese with 3 tablespoons butter.
2. Mix chicken, onion, and black olives with the cheese and butter.
3. Separate rolls into 4 rectangles.
4. Seal at perforations.
5. Place glob of chicken mix in center adn pull up 4 corners and seal edges.
6. Spray tops with butter or melt 2 tablespoons of butter and pour over rolls.
7. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Tips to make hor d'oeuvres or toddler size: You can stuff a small amount inside the individual crescent roll triangles to make a heavy hor d'oeuvres. If you do, 2 cans will make 16 chicken crescents. I make a few of these small ones for my toddler anyway along with the regular size ones; notice the 3 small ones in the bottom right corner of baking sheet.

The crescents do not have to be closed perfectly. They will have character and uniqueness when cooked. I had one extra crescent left over so I made a crescent roll out of it (bottom left corner).

I usually eat 1.5-2 regular size ones at a meal while my toddler usually eats one small one. I serve these with vegetable(s) and fruit.

Shrimp and Sausage with Parmesan Grits

2008-11-10T21:17:00.008-06:00

I got this recipe from Vickie on her website, Uncommon Artistic Endeavors who adapted a Southern Living recipe.

Shrimp/Sausage Mixture Ingredients:
1.5 lb raw shrimp, peeled
1 tbsp butter
1 lb diced sausage (i used turkey sausage)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3/4 c whipping cream
1/3 c chicken broth
1/3 c red wine
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp pepper
Parmesan Grits

Melt butter in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add sausage, pepper, and onion and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add shrimp and cook, stirring constantly, 3-5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove mixture from skillet.

Add cream, broth, and wine to skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until cheese is melted. Stir in shrimp and sausage mixture. Serve over Parmesan Grits.
Yield: About 5 servings

Parmesan Grits Ingredients:
2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
3/4 c uncooked quick-cooking grits
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over med-high heat; gradually whisk in grits. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 12-15 minutes or until thickened. Add cheeses and pepper, stirring until melted.

Grits are thick and creamy.

Evaluation and Tips:

This was the first time I made this recipe and it was delicious. My husband thought so, too. However, it is very rich so I could only eat half of the helping in my bowl. I served salad with it which was a nice balance to this heavy dish. I precut everything so the cooking process would be simpler. I managed to cook the mixture and grits at the same time so they would get ready at the same time, but it got a little hectic as both required stirring, and adding ingredients plus my toddler was competing for my attention. Thankfully, Chris was home to try to distract her.

Simple Cheese Cake

2008-11-10T20:49:00.011-06:00

I tasted this cheesecake for the first time in the summer of 2007 at my college friend reunion. It was one of the best cheese cakes I had ever had if not the best. My good friend, Gina, hosted us at her mom's in Slidell, LA. Gina's mom, Bobbie Gibbs, who is an excellent cook gave me her recipe. Here goes...

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 8 oz pkgs cream cheese
1 already prepared graham cracker crust (recipe called for one bigger than 8" but I could only find an 8" crust. worked fine, but would overflow with a topping probably)

Instructions:
1. Cream sugar and eggs.
2. Add cream cheese and vanilla.
3. Beat well until fluffy. (Note: according to recipe - fluffs best when beat in food processor, but hand mixer does ok, too.)
4. Put into pie crust.
5. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
6. Cool. Refridgerate 2 hrs + before serving.
7. Serve with favorite topping.

I love various toppings. However, the cheese cake is wonderful plain as well. :)

Cream Cheese Week

2008-11-09T16:36:00.002-06:00

I have declared this cream cheese week. I have several recipes that I plan to make and share this week that use cream cheese. The only traditional one that uses cream cheese is a very simple cheesecake recipe. Stay tuned for a few different uses of cream cheese this week.

Poppy Seed Chicken

2008-11-06T20:20:00.015-06:00

This recipe is my concoction of my friend Kim's recipe and one I saw in Bell's Best cookbook. Variations below. I've never seen the same poppy seed recipe printed as they all have a slight difference.

Ingredients:

4-5 chicken breasts, boiled
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz sour cream
1 stick of butter
1 tube of Ritz crackers
Poppy Seeds

Instructions:

1. Cook chicken. Then, cube/shred it.
2. Mix soups and sour cream.
3. Combine soup mixture with chicken and put in casserole dish.
4. Melt butter in pan, then remove from heat.
5. Crumble crackers in zip lock bag or in tube.
6. Mix crumbs in butter until all butter is absorbed.
7. Top casserole with cracker mixture and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
8. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Watch for the soup mixture to bubble and it is done.
9. Serve over your choice of rice.

Variations: I've seen recipes that call for cream of chicken instead of cream of celery, added almond slivers, more sour cream and/or whole chicken breasts vs. diced/shredded. I put together what I like best.

This recipe is pretty simple and doesn't call for too much.

The soup and chicken mix are ready to be topped with cracker mixture before baking.

While the butter melts, I put the Ritz crackers in a zip lock bag to contain the crumbs as I crush them. Remember: you cannot crush them too much. After topping the casserole with the cracker mixture, don't forget to sprinkle the poppy seeds on it. I have forgotten before and my husband claims that the poppy seeds make it taste better. I couldn't tell or maybe I was just too hungry and didn't notice.

Final Product. I usually use a casserole dish or 9x13 dish, but I was giving the disposable tin portion away this time. This could be served as a main dish. It is also a "comfort" food as it is not spicy for sensitive breastfeeding moms and it is very satisfying and filling. One new mom told me she received 3 versions of poppy seed chicken after having her son and that they all tasted different (but good :).

Homemade Butter Mints

2008-10-27T14:21:00.011-05:00

I found this recipe from the website, Uncommon Artistic Endeavors, which is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:
1 lb box confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 tbsp milk

Instructions:
Mix ingredients with a mixer until blended. The mixture will be coarse crumbs. Knead the crmbs together to make sure it is moistened. You can add a little more milk if too dry, or a little more sugar if too moist. You should be able to make a small ball and press it into the mold cleanly. (Ilet mine sit in the freezer for 5 minutes before popping mints out.) Pop the mint out of the mold and allow to dry on a flat surface. Store in single layers with wax paper between each layer. These freeze well. It looks crumbly, but when you smoosh it together, it forms a nice, smooth ball.

Tips Below:

The crumbled mixture before I added food coloring. I accidently melted my butter instead of softening it which made the mixture runny. I had to add more sugar to thicken it again.
They still tasted yummy!

This was my first try at making these mints. I could not get the food coloring to smooth out so the mints turned out speckled. I have some ideas for next time. I'll post if it works.

Since I made these for a girl baby shower, I used a teddy bear, daisy and bottle mold. However, the bottle mold didn't work well as I broke the bottles when popping them out. I'll need to practive that one. The bright pink and teal were picked to match the decor which symbolized the baby's nursery.

Gitmo Balls

2008-10-21T18:45:00.009-05:00

Instead of just eating green olives out of the jar to satisfy my pregnancy craving, I found a recipe from a former Bible study teacher to be more creative with the olives. They are a bit time consuming because of wrapping each olive. However, they are worth it.

Ingredients:
7 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese (next time, I will use more cheese...maybe 8oz)
1/2 c. soft butter
Mix together then add:
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. flour
1 tsp. paprika

Instructions:
Make into dough then place a small amount in the palm of your hand; flatten; fold dough around green olive. Place on cookie sheet and put them in the freezer until firm. Store in freezer until ready to bake.

Bake at 350 degrees until crust is done (about 10-15 minutes). Also works well in a toaster oven for smaller serving size.

My attempt made 38 balls in which I froze most of them to pull out to cook as the cravings surfaced again. This would be a great appetizer for a party as well.

The dough is a bit crumbly so I had to makeshift the folding around the olive often.

The finished product. Mine did not all look like balls. O'well, still tasted yummy. I don't know why these are named "Gitmo" except for they make you want to "get more."

Lemon Cake with Lemon Sauce

2008-10-21T14:58:00.005-05:00

I received this recipe from a high school friend's mom for my wedding in a journal of various cake recipes. I just tried it out this past weekend. It was very lemony and quite moist. However, it is not a cake you would want to take somewhere to be pretty as it looks plain, yet tasty for those who like lemon flavoring.

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix
1 box lemon instant pudding
4 eggs
1 cup of water
1/2 c of cooking oil

Blend ingredients for 3 mins with electric mixer set on medium speed. Pour in tube pan. Bake in preheated oven at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until done. (I did mine for 45 min.)

Sauce:
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1 c of confectioners sugar
Juice of 2 fresh lemons (my choice) or lemon juice

Bring ingredients to boil. Pour over cake while still in pan. Notice cake below is shiny as the sauce is setting into the cake

Cool cake completely before removing from pan. Has a lemon poundcake texture, but moist. Good with coffee or iced tea.

Simple Fall Table Decor

2008-10-20T08:37:00.010-05:00

As I got into the Fall season spirit about a month or more ago, I started collecting various size pine cones and acorns when Alex and I went for a walk. Also, our backyard had some good acorn picks. Kroger was selling leaf plates for about $5 with a Kroger card. So, I picked up 2 plates and decided to create my own decor this year. I put 2 previously owned candles in the middle of pine cones and acorns to create 2 table top Fall decorations. I like the "hats" on top of the acorns best, so I hot glued the hats on that fell off. The decor was simple, cheap [~$10 for plates and a few walks (which we do often anyway) to collect free nature], natural, seasonal and fun. And of course, Alex received all the leftover acorns and pine cones to play with on the back deck. She loves carrying and grouping them.

Crescent Mummy Dogs

2008-10-17T15:11:00.005-05:00

Another rendition to my recipe that I found off of http://www.foodnetwork.com/ is below. I have not tried this one as it looks really time consuming and Alex is too young to appreciate it. However, older kids might enjoy if you have the time. FYI: I copied the recipe straight from the website.

INGREDIENTS
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
2 1/2 slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)
10 large hot dogs
Cooking spray
Mustard or ketchup, if desired

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).
4. Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for "face." On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on "face." High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 15 to 19 minutes.

Pig in a Blanket

2008-10-06T20:39:00.007-05:00

This is a simple food to make for toddlers and kids for lunch or dinner. My daughter, Alex, is one yr old and loves them. I love them and eat them with her for lunch. I serve some type of veggie with them as well. You can refrigerate the leftovers and make another meal with it by heating in the microwave. These bring back memories as my mom used to make them for me. Enjoy!

Pig in a Blanket

Ingredients:
1 Pack of Hot Dogs (I use Hebrew National as they are tasty and healthier.)
1 Can of Crescent Roll Dough (I use Reduced Fat and the off brand works fine.)
Cheese (I used shredded cheddar cheese. However, growing up, my mom sliced American cheese.)

Instructions:
Preheat oven according to your crescent can instructions.

Cut 4 hot dogs in half and then slice them longways part way down the middle. Stuff cheese in the slit. Roll out crescent dough (should have 8 rolls in a can). Start cheese stuffed hot dog on the pointy end and roll up in the crescent dough. Make sure it finishes where the cheese side is up.

Place them all on a cookie sheet with space in between. I greased the bottom for half of them to see if it made a difference. It made no difference on my baking sheet so I will not grease it in the future. Cook according to your crescent can instructions. Place them all on a cookie sheet with space in between. I greased the bottom for half of them to see if it made a difference. It made no difference on my baking sheet so I will not grease it in the future. Cook according to your crescent can instructions. Lean toward the longer range of minutes because of filling. But, watch and make sure tops do not burn.

Finished Product. Of course, if you are serving this to a pretoddler or toddler, cut them up into small pieces. Let cool as they are hot. Enjoy!

Flower Cake and Cupcakes

2008-10-06T20:08:00.009-05:00

I couldn't resist making and decorating Alex's first birthday cake after seeing the cute daisy flower pan at Hobby Lobby. I studied the brochure that came with it and decided I would attempt homemaking the icing and decorating the cake for the first time ever. The brochure was great in guiding you to exactly what items you needed to make the cake. So, I did a trial run (pics below) the weekend before the party. I got a little better as I did not have any crumbs enter the icing the second time. However, neither cake is perfect. My goal was completion, not perfection so I will not disclose all the mistakes I see or know about it. :) Overall, I was pleased. Icing the cupcakes with a tip was an idea my friend, Elizabeth, told me about. Thanks, Elizabeth! Through this process, I learned a ton about making buttercream icing, using tips, thinning the icing, coloring the icing, etc... Wilton (cake decor Brand found at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Walmart, etc...) has great resources to help with the icing. Thanks Layla for letting me borrow your booklets!