An Elf name Rita!

Day 1: We have read the book we understand the meaning behind the Elf and we have official named her... Let the season of new traditions and fun games begin! 

 

Meet "Rita"! She is the newest addition to our family and my children are already in love! She brought 2 soldiers back from the North Pole and served up cookies and milk! 

The 2 Monkeys are the floor and special little treats that don't come off the shelf very often... My oldest daughter was very excited to see them join her for donettes and milk this morning!

Door headboard and est. sign all in one day! What more could I ask for....

I was on Pinterest and found this big rave for "door" headboards... I didnt think much about it because typically I am not a trendy person... However, I was at my moms house and seen her old front door on the side of her house. It was dirty, old, dry, and pretty much UGLY when I got to it. But I seen beyond the weather stains, bird shnew, and dirt. She told me to throw it out it wasnt worth the time and effort I wanted to put into it. Now that it is all finish and painted and mounted to my bed... ITS BEAUTIFUL! I love it and it turned out GREAT!

It started with some late night pinning!

The nasty old door!

PERFECTION!

Lettuce Wraps!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup water chestnuts
• 2/3 cup mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 4 -5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon hot mustard
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 -2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions

• Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
• Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
• Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
• Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
• Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
• Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
• Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
• Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
• Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
• As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
• Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
• When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
• With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
• Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
• Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
• Top with"Special Sauce".

I got the recipe off of food.com! Enjoy!

The Lemonade Stand!

 

So... Before Christmas a local photographer put out a "Call for trade" she requested that someone create a lemonade stand in trade for photos with it! The photo on the left is the lemonade stand "she wanted" and the one on the right is the one I produced for her. If you know me in anyway you know that I am over the top with crafty ideas and so therefore I went crazy. I looked on Etsy for the bunting and it was extremely expensive (Like $75.00). So I decided I could make it... AND I DID! (click bunting for the pattern I used). I seen a cute idea on Pinterest (what isn't cute on that site right?) for cake plates you will notice on the right side of the photo there is a cake in the air. This cake is being held up by a glass plate I found at the swapmeet for 50cents and a martini glass (Cake plate tutorial). This project took me just over 3 months to build, paint, and create the decor but it has to be one of the funnest projects I have done! Now I will share so more of her amazing work... AND MY CHILDREN! 

Guess who was mistaken for an egg?

This morning after we dyed the easter eggs my husband (a kid at heart) decided that we shouldn't waste the dye!

Meet "Britches" (please do not forget to pronounce the "R") she was a very beautiful white poodle... this morning that is! She is now a wonderful shade of EASTER EGG BLUE!

Happy Easter!

I had such a fun time making the little coin bags that I decided that I would make one for each of the girls I work with!

Another super quick, cute, and chic little key money holder! I found this at Pink she is the same lady that I got the lunch bag from... She is so good at photo by photo instructions! Love her stuff! Enjoy!

So my husband and I have been trying several different wines trying to find a good one to have with dinner. I have now "Kissed a zillion frogs" but I finally found my "GINA" she is wonderful. When I drink this it is smooth, light, and refreshing. It doesn't burn my throat on its way down like I just stuck a straw in a bottle of rubbing alcohol. It is a rose "Mochetto" and can be found at the following 2 locations: Quintessential Wines and BevMo.

Green Salsa!

Ingredients:

3 Jalapones (for taste not heat)
1 serrono (for heat)
20 small purple/green tomatillos
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup of oil
Salt

1. Take the leaves off of the tomatillos and wash them, Shell the cloves, Cut the tops off the Jalapeños and Serrano's. The 2 different types of chili's does make a difference. The Jalapenos are used for the flavor and Serrano for the heat... It does make a difference promise!

2. Place everything on a cookie sheet with foil paper

3. Put a pinch of salt and the oil on the tomatillos

4. Wrap it up with the foil and put in the over at 400 degrees until they are good and cooked

5. Unwrap them and allow the tops to burn

6. Put everything in the blender and pulse until it is the consistence you are looking for!

What better way to display your family name then by allowing your family to get involved in the project?

--I created the letters on my Gypsy so that I could cut them reversed so that when I was finished with my appliqué process it wasn't backwards... (My preferred method of appliqué: http://www.roserushbrooke.com/how-to-applique-1.html)

--Then I had my daughter, husband and I write our name on a piece of paper. I then enlarged it to the desired size and penciled in on the muslin.

--I then embroider the names to match the border fabric. My border is a 3inch boarder. I added the additional 1inch and half to the boarder so that I was sure I had plenty of room to staple it to the mount behind it.

My husband then took a piece of running board cut to size staped and taaa daa instant frame.

We took a piece of heavy cardboard and cut it out as the mounting piece and LAAAA DAAA!

Easy on the wallet and the Eye Artwork!

Had to insert paper for Dion... I really want her to write her own name so...

We shall wait until she is able to write!

I know super cute right?!?

So... I was surfing on Pinterest the other day and I noticed that a girlfriend of mine (we will call her Jenn for blogging ado) anyway so Jenn pinned a very cute little item and then commented that she had no crafting skills... I have about an ounce more skill then she in this department so I thought I would surprise her with that little item! I hope she likes it... and if she doesn't then she had better take a picture smile a bunch and pretend like it is the neatest gift she has ever received! ;) She can considered it a late Birthday present!

Quick "Cake Box" waffles

Ingredients:

1 box of cake mix (Any kind will do)
3 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
1 cup of water

*** A KitchenAid is not needed... She just wanted to photo bomb.

Step 1: Plug in your waffle iron!  (You will thank me when you get to step 5)

Step 2: Put the cake mix in a bowl. Put your eggs, oil and water on top of the cake mix.

Step 3: Mix until it is smooth... (WAFFLE batter in texture ;) )

Step 4: Put approximately 1/2 cup of batter into waffle iron. Cook for approximately 2 minutes or until golden brown color. Do not over fIll because the batter will come out the sides of the waffle iron like a muffin top**.

Step 5: Remove from iron and serve with desired topping!

**(Definition of muffin top: Chucky girl wearing skinny jeans... do you have the picture in your mind? alright the "muffin top" piece of gut she has hanging over her jeans.... now you know the definition of "muffin top" and a horrible image to go along with your breakfast)

5 Steps to breakfast!

Ingredients:

1 pk of turkey bacon
1 pk of turkey sausage patties
2 bell pepper (Color doesn't matter in the picture I used yellow and red)
1 tomato
1 yellow onion
2 cups of MinuteMade Rice (or your preference of rice)

Step 1: Chop up the bacon in 1 inch pieces raw. Put them in a skillet and brown them. Remove them from the skillet and place them on a paper towel to drawn the oil off.

Step 2: Cut the turkey patties into strips and brown them in the same skillet. Remove the turkey patties from the skillet and throw them on top of the bacon you have draining.

Step 3: Dice all of the veggies. I prefer little squares but you can dice however you see fit. Just make sure they are all even in size so that it cooks evenly.

Step 4: Put your veggies in the skillet with a bit of oil and let them brown. When your veggies are done put the meat back in the skillet. Salt to taste (Garlic salt is my preference)

Step 5: While your veggies are browning get your rice cooking. I suggest following the instructions on the package.

Grab a plate and the coffee! Then Enjoy! Guess this would be Step 6!

One of the greatest books ever written

This wasn't written by a famous poet or a famous scalar but by a German immigrant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn named Betty Smith. She may not have been famous when writing it but her ability to paint a picture in your mind with her words made her one famous lady! It has since been turned into a play and a movie. I got the recommendation from a dear friend to read the book and after the 2nd chapter I didn't want it to end. The trials this girl goes through and the way it all plays out it is just wonderful. This is honestly my favorite book.

10 Steps to homemade TAMALES!

Ingredients:

1 lb of Chick breast boiled and shredded

1 lb of mozzarella cheese pulled apart

1/2 lb of green tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

4 Jalapeños

1 bunch of cilantro

1 pack of corn husks

2 lbs of masa

Step 1: Put the corn husk in water. They need to soak for approximately 2 hours. The longer         they sit in the water the softer they will be for rolling your tamales.

 

Step 2: Take the leaves off of the green tomatoes and wash them.

Step 3: Set your over to 350 degrees

Step 4: Place the green tomatoes, garlic cloves and Jalapeños on a baking sheet with a little bit of olive oil and salt on top of them. Place them in the over until they are good and roasted.  (This is the same recipe for make green tomato salsa).

Step 5: After your tomatoes, garlic and Jalapeños are good and roasted put them in the blender with the cilantro until it is liquid in texture.

Step 6: Put this salsa in a pot and begin to slowly boil it. You are going to allow this to boil for approximately 1 hour giving it a stir occasionally so that it does not stick to the pot and burn. Once your salsa becomes thicker (Texture will remind you of pancake mix) add the chicken that you pre-cooked and shredded to the pot. The goal is to get the chicken warm.

Step 7: On a cutting board place 2 corn husks together overlapping one another about an inch.

Step 8: Spread masa evenly over the 2 cornhusks. (The thicker you put it on.. the thicker the masa in your tamales will be. I prefer mine not thicker then a quarter inch)

Step 9: Put a scoop of salsa/chicken mixture in the middle of the masa with some cheese. There is no set amount the more you stuff them the bigger they are. Keep in mind you have to roll them in the following step.

Step 10: Roll the tamale. Just like you would a burrito only folded on one end. Put the tamales in the tamale cooker with the open end of the husk up. Make sure to pack them pretty tight so that they cook evenly and do not unfold. Cook for approx. 45mins or until the masa comes off the husk without sticking!

I am sorry that I do not have a finished product to show... I was so excited I served them up and forgot to snap the final picture... OOPS! Anyway, I usually put sour cream and a squirt of lime on top... and YUMMY!