Housecleaning Tip...cleaning oven window glass

Well this seemed too easy and good to be true - clean the dirty glass window on my oven (that I couldn't get clean by spraying with cleaner) with a magic eraser? You know, those white foam bar things from Mr. Clean? I happened to have a couple in the drawer so thought 'what the heck, I'll bite' and it totally works! Get the eraser a little wet on one end then rub with either the wet or dry side (the wet side worked better for me, but the dry side does it too). A little elbow grease but wasn't too hard, and look at how much gunk came off! Hard to take a picture but hopefully you can see the before and after - it was a little fun, not gonna lie.

before

before

and after!!!

gross they were that dirty, and wow that it came off so easily!! 

Beaded Bauble Ring

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner - heart stuff from Valentine's Day is put away and now it's time for all things green, shamrocked, and lucky :)

Was inspired by a green beaded ring I saw here, mine is way different of course but that's what I think crafting and inspiration should be...get ideas and then make them your own! Plus I didn't have the inspiration picture or directions with me when playing in the craft room and I just winged it hahaha.

This is super simple - twist some sort of heavy weight jewelry wire around something that is the size of the ring you want. (Remember when Janis and I tried to make wire wrapped rings, click here for that post, and they didn't turn out so good? Well I bought a ring sizer tool thing back then so I used that for this ring). I used 20 gauge copper wire for this ring since that's what I have on hand. Wrap the wire around a few times, I did 8 or 9, beginning and ending at the same place. Twist the two ends around to hold, thread a bead on each end and then loop the wire ends under the beads so they don't poke you and you can't see them. Then take a long piece of thinner gauge wire, wrap one end in between the two beads to hold it, string a couple beads on and wrap around wherever looks good to you. Make sure the beads stay on the top of the ring and aren't underneath the band, and don't pull too tight or the ring will get smaller. Keep wrapping and adding a couple beads at a time until it looks how you want, cut off the wire you aren't using and twist the end around and underneath the beads so it doesn't poke you and you can't see it - that's sort of a no-brainer I know, why would you leave the ends sticking up or out to poke yourself? Just start wrapping and these instructions will make sense I think! Give me a holler if you can't figure out what I did and need some help :)

I used green beads so I'll have green jewelry for St. Paddy's Day, make yours whatever color you want!

wrap wire around something that's the size you want the ring, then twist the ends around each other to hold

put a bead on each end and then wrap the end under the bead to hide it and hold the bead in place. 

wrap thinner wire between the two beads, add a couple beads and continue wrapping around the ring placing the beads where they look best. don't pull too tight or the ring will get smaller. 

side view

what the back looks like...obviously ;)

Seafood Gumbo

Missy shared another family favorite - (remember her Nana's Pralines? OMG if you haven't made those yet you should go do that immediately! click here for the recipe) - Seafood Gumbo. I've never made seafood gumbo and am always looking for new recipes so couldn't wait to try this - the original recipe calls for snapper and oysters in addition to shrimp and crab, but Missy just does shrimp and crab, and leaves out the okra (yay, I dislike okra)...and since she says this is great I'm making it exactly like she does! Here is her version of the recipe, you can find the original if you click here.


Ingredients

1. 1 cup vegetable oil
2. 1 cup all-purpose flour
3. 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4. 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
5. 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
6. 1 cup chopped celery
7. 3 tablespoons minced garlic
8. 1 1/2 cups beer, such as Abita Amber
9. 6 cups veggie stock
10. 2 tablespoons file powder (*also called gumbo file)
11. 2 bay leaves
12. 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
13. 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
14. 2 tablespoons kosher salt
15. 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
16. 1 pound medium fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
17. 1 pound crab claws
18. 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
19. Hot cooked rice
20. Garnish: chopped green onion

Instructions

1. In an 8-quart stockpot, heat oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes; add flour, and stir together to form a roux. Cook, stirring often, until roux is the color of peanut butter, about 20 minutes.
2. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.  Cook vegetables, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add beer, stock, file powder, bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, Worcestershire, salt, and cayenne. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and simmer for about 1 hour.
3. Add shrimp and crab to mixture. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until seafood is cooked through; add parsley.
4. Serve with rice, and garnish with green onion, if desired.

notes: I halved the recipe and wish I made the whole thing so there would be more leftovers - guys, this is really good! After saying I was going to follow her recipe I did change a couple things...
1) Dave doesn't like lots of onions and peppers so I used less but added chopped carrots to make up the difference.
2) it calls for 1 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper, I halved everything else but only used 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne - was worried it'd be too spicy. It was a little warm for me but the kind of almost too spicy that is addictive and makes you want to keep eating it! I had no problem with the heat.
3) I couldn't find the gumbo file powder at our little grocery store so ordered it from Amazon! Missy says she gets it at the grocery store tho so check there first...it's ground sassafras leaves and doesn't taste good on its own but for whatever reason makes the gumbo so good! Not sure I'd leave this out (like I contemplated doing when I couldn't get it locally).
4) served it over hot white sticky rice, the rice really absorbs the sauce which is just delicious!
5) I used half butter (for flavor) and half oil.

Old Fashioned (Whiskey Cocktail)

I found this photo on my phone from when we went to Chicago in the fall with friends - we sat on a gorgeous roof-top lounge and had drinks, looking at an amazing view. I forgot that I took a picture of my new favorite drink - an Old Fashioned. It's a whiskey based cocktail, not too strong or too sweet - I wish I would have taken a pic of the bar menu so I could remember what they used - I liked that it had dark luxardo cherries and an orange slice in it and also their sugar wasn't dissolved all the way so every now and then I'd get a little crunchy sugar bit - I'm guessing they used coarse natural sugar; I'm finding tons of recipes but not exactly like the one I had there. I'm including the picture so you can see, but really - you don't have to make it like theirs.. any old Old Fashioned will do!

Basic Old Fashioned Recipe:

1 teaspoon superfine sugar (or 1 sugar cube, or simple syrup)
2 to 3 dashes bitters
2 ounces bourbon or rye whiskey
orange and/or cherry (or both!) to garnish, optional

Place sugar in an Old Fashioned glass. Douse with bitters and add a few drops of water. Add whiskey and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add several large ice cubes and stir rapidly with a bar spoon to chill. Garnish if you like.

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2.25 Short Hair Test

I've never heard of this guideline to help tell if your face is suited more for short or long hair - whether it's true or not is up for debate but still a fun thing to try out in case you've ever wondered.

Put a pencil horizontally under the point of your chin and hold a ruler vertically under your earlobe (see illustration), where the pencil and ruler intersect is your number - if it's less than 2.25" your face is made for short hair, if more than 2.25" a short hair style might not be best.  I wonder if this is a legit thing... my number is just under 2.25" and I've had short hair for years so maybe it works!

PS: if you follow this rule and chop off your hair please don't hate me if it doesn't look great LOL!! I'm just passing on a fun piece of info from a magazine! Click here for original article from Self.com

Frozen Cooked Chicken

I just saw this idea and can't believe I haven't been doing it all along - cook boneless chicken breasts, chop up and freeze, then have cooked chicken available whenever you want it for salads or whatever. Simple and a really good idea.

I just boiled the chicken in a little water, poultry seasoning, pepper, and a handful of herbs (chives and thyme that I had in the fridge and needed to be used up) until the chicken was cooked thru. Let it cool, cut up into bite sized pieces, and freeze. I put the pieces on a paper plate in a single layer and put in the freezer for a few minutes until just frozen and then transferred to small baggies in case the chicken pieces stick together. Freezing them individually first should help to avoid them clumping together after frozen. When you are ready to use it just take out the amount you want and let it thaw for a bit and it's ready to go.

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Kenny at the photo store (Pauls Photo) was super helpful to me the other day so I told him I'd bake him some cookies, what's his favorite? He said anything, to just surprise him...but I persisted and got him to pick macadamia. I've never made macadamia cookies so yay, in addition to thanking him with cookies I was also able to experiment with a new recipe. I'm very happy to report that I picked this Betty Crocker recipe I found online and it worked great - these are so good! They taste like a chocolate chip cookie with little crunchy bits of macadamia in them, yum. Great choice Kenny :)

Ingredients: 

1 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1/2 C. butter, softened

1/2 C. shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces white baking bars (white chocolate) cut into 1/4" to 1/2" chunks

3 1/2 ounces macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350'. Beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in white baking bar chunks and nuts. 

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto engrossed cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  

my notes: Dave went to the store for the white chocolate baking bar and nuts, it took a few phone calls for him to figure out what to get haha so we ended up with white chocolate chips instead of the bar which I think worked just fine! And I used my small cookie scoop instead of dropping by tablespoons. click here for the original Betty Crocker post. 

Housecleaning Tip...dusting baseboards

I've been on a hunt lately for good cleaning tips and came across this hack to dust baseboards with a dryer sheet. Ok, that's an easy one so I immediately grabbed one to see - and it works! Just wipe the dryer sheet along the boards and be amazed how much dust comes up...unless you already keep them clean, in which case you don't have dust building up like I did so you won't be amazed how much dust you pick up LOL. If you are like me though give this a try and see for yourself. Just don't get distracted and organize cabinets instead ;)

Mason Jar Salt Pourer

Oh my gosh, this was such a quick little project and I love how it turned out! Literally just cut the top off a cardboard salt container (the round cylinder kind with pour spout in the top) and fit it onto the top of a wide mouth Mason jar, secure with a jar ring.


Saw this idea here, how cute and easy!

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken

This chicken is such an easy, healthy, quick, delish dish - I haven't made it in a while but am now remembering how much we like it! I'm bringing this recipe back to the front for sure.

• 6 boneless chicken breast halves (2 lbs total)
• 1 1/4 lbs roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup finely slivered arugula
• 3 T. capers
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup parmesan
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. cayenne
• salt to taste

-Pound chicken till flat and uniform thickness. Beat egg with 1 T. water in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine cornmeal, parmesan, and spices. Dip the chicken in the egg, then cornmeal mixture coating completely. Grill (or bake) until done.

-Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, arugula, capers, lemon and olive oil in a bowl.

-Serve the chicken with the tomato mixture on top.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving: 298 calories, 6.5g fat, 40g protein

don't have a meat mallet? I just put the chicken in a large
ziplock bag and pound it with a small frying pan!

dip first in egg...

then in cornmeal mixture. 

Notes: I should have halved the chicken but left them giant, took quite a while to get them cooked thru - also I couldn't pound them down very well. It's much easier and quicker with thinner chicken!

I used red pepper flakes instead of cayenne, and used a whole bag of arugula for the two of us instead of 1 cup for 6 servings like the recipe states. It's just arugula, go for it :). Oh, and I added some fresh mushrooms I had on hand just cuz.

The capers are really salty (in fact I usually rinse them before using), if you omit them make sure to season the arugula/tomato mixture.

This recipe originated in a Sunset magazine - when I tried to look it up online to get a date I only find mention of it in 1996! See, told ya I've been making it for a while now!

Paint Samples

We are having a couple rooms in the condo repainted. Usually when we are going to paint I pour over the color sample fan deck thing and then just wing it hoping the little square and the name is enough to go on - this time we are using a new painter and he asked if I'd like some samples painted on the wall so I'd have a better idea of what the color will look like...uh, YES of course I would like that! He painted a couple different colors in both rooms which has been so helpful, the gray I thought would work for our kitchen/dining/living room is perfect in the kitchen but way too dark in the living room - he's going to lighten up the same color for in there so it'll match but not be so intense. Well that just saved some time and money :). Of course now that the walls have patchwork samples painted there's no changing my mind and deciding not to paint - maybe that's why he offered the samples LOL!!

looks great in the kitchen...

but too dark on the living room side.

Ombre Nail Art...by G.

Brooke made two-toned frosting last week (click here for that post) and another niece made two-toned nail art to share with us this week...funny coincidence. As you can imagine the techniques are not at all similar!

G. brushed two different colors of nail polish onto a makeup sponge and then sponged onto her nails giving a two-toned effect. Clean up any polish that gets onto your fingers by dipping a qtip into polish remover and carefully go around your nails. Finish with a clear coat of polish. Easy nail art - and if you do it with two completely different colors the effect would really pop - G. did it with two polishes that go together so it's a little hard in this picture to see the result, but I like that by using coordinating colors this is a totally adult appropriate look - and if you do a couple crazy bold colors you're going to get a funky cool look. Love this idea - good one niece!

Zucchini Tots

I "zoodled" some zucchini (made noodles out of zucchini) for Dave to eat with grilled chicken while I was gone to my sissy's wedding but he ended up going out just about every night so he stuck the zoodles in the freezer...hmmm I wasn't sure what the texture was going to be of the thawed zucchini and sure enough, it's not great - super watery. So instead of trying to keep them as zoodles I saw this recipe for zucchini tots and thought they might be good for that if I really wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini and then chop in small pieces...and it worked! These are so good!

ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 1 packed cup grated zucchini
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 medium onion, minced
• 1/4 cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400'. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel until you have 1 packed cup. Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini, there will be a lot of water. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon 1 T. of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until golden. Makes 16.

Yield:  serving size 5 tots. Per serving: 108 calories, 4.3g fat, sodium 262mg, carb 11.5g, protein 7g. 

Click here for the original post found on Skinnytaste.com

Glazed Lemon Cookies

I've been working on organizing the freezer and forgot I put a log of this dough in there a couple months ago - checked the blog and for some reason I don't think I ever posted this recipe (I've been doing this long enough now that I can't remember everything I've posted!) so figured I would be helpful and bake them up so I could show you...nope, I didn't do it so I would have cookies to eat ;) haha...and I love having baked goodies in my domed stand on the counter, makes me happy to look at them.

I've had this recipe in my book for a long time, it's ripped from a magazine but I don't know which one!  They are simple to make and super good, reminds me of a shortbread cookie in texture but the tart lemon glaze is what makes them so delish.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more if necessary
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

-With an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and salt and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.

-Divid the dough in half and shape into 1 1/3"-diameter logs. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

-Heat oven to 350'. Slice the logs into 3/8" thick pieces and space them 1 1/2" apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, 16-20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

-In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and zest until it forms a thick but pourable glaze (add more lemon juice if necessary). Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes.

makes 48 cookies. To freeze: instead of refrigerating the dough, freeze the logs for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, cutting and baking the dough from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist so when slicing dough in 3/8" thick pieces
I set out a ruler or tape measure to make sure I make them even...
you can just eyeball this for sure!

dip the tops of the cookies straight into the glaze

Flower Heart

Look at this cute heart Julie made from an old bouquet of flowers - she removed the stems and then just put the flowers on the ground in a heart shape. Great idea for a little last minute Valentine decoration or a cute surprise to lay out on the ground where your sweetie will stumble across it ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Heart Suncatcher

I saw this idea on Pinterest (click here for the original post), you could make any shapes and colors of course but I love this for an easy last minute kid friendly Valentine craft project. Simple - cut out 1" squares from colored tissue paper, decoupage them to a plastic page protector, let it dry completely. Gently fold the paper in half (don't crease) and cut out a heart shape, then peal off the page protector. Hang in the window to capture the light thru the "stained glass" looking pieces of tissue paper.


To decoupage: spread a thin layer of mod podge on the page protector using a foam brush, lay down a single layer of tissue squares and spread more glue on top of them, continue to lay down squares and brush with glue between layers making sure all of the tissue paper has glue both underneath and on top of the squares.

Note: I didn't have mod podge so made my own by combining 2 parts white craft glue with 1 part water.

to easily cut the squares I stacked a few pieces of tissue paper on top of each other,
cut a strip off the end of the bundle, then cut the stack into 1" squares. 

use mod podge or glue mixed with water as your decoupage medium

brush the glue onto a plastic page protector and put down a layer of tissue squares

I did a quick time lapse video to show you how simple this is - just keep layering on squares and glue!

my completed mosaic, just waiting for it to completely dry

Goat Cheese Tart

Served this with grilled pork tenderloin and two bean salad - yum. Didn't have the correct pan so I just used a shallow pie plate and cut the crust down so it wouldn't be too high up the sides of the dish - I made the lines around the top with the edge of a fork just to make it look nicer.  Forgot to take a picture after it was baked but I got one of the last piece before I ate it for lunch! It's a nice, different, tasty side dish to the pork.


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt and pepper
6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
8 ounces goat cheese
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Mix in 1 egg and 3 Tablespoons heavy cream. (If too dry, add more cream.) Shape dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 30 minutes or up to overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350'. In a medium bow, mix together cheese, remaining eggs and heavy cream, parsley, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.
3. On a floured surface, roll out dough. Fit into an 11 1/2"x8" tart pan with a removable bottom, rolling pin over top to cut off excess dough. Pour filling into crust. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool, about 15 minutes, before removing tart from pan.

10 servings. Per serving: 270 calories, 8g protein, fat 20g, carb 15g, sodium 162mg.

Jilly's Jam...So Good It's Scary Blueberry

I love to make jam. Love to eat jam. And Jilly's Jam has a catchy ring to it so that's another reason for me to make it haha. I've experimented with tons of combinations in the past, and I like to make up silly names for the different batches - there's been 'blueberry peach screech" and 'triple berry blast' among many others. Looking at all the jars Sheryl gave me (click here for that post) made me want to can something and jam is my go to...I planned to make my friend Cassandra's grandma's strawberry jam but thanks to a sale on blueberries at the grocery store, I made just plain old blueberry jam. But calling it 'So Good It's Scary Blueberry' makes it sound much more exciting, doesn't it? ;) I'll make the strawberry jam in the near future and share the recipe with you!

I've been canning for years but still consider myself a novice and lack confidence to veer too far away from the instructions so I just follow the directions on the SureJell fruit pectin box - with the exception of mixing up the fruit that is. I stick with the amounts of fruit, SureJell, and sugar though...

For one batch of blueberry jam you need 4 cups chopped blueberries, 4 cups sugar (the store didn't have the lower sugar surejell, you can look for that tho if you want to make less-sugar variety), and one box of SureJell. The condensed directions are to stir the SureJell into the fruit in a saucepan, bring to a full boil then add sugar, return to rolling boil and boil exactly one minute. Ladle immediately into prepared jars, wipe the tops, then seal with lid and ring. Process in a deep pot of  boiling water 10 minutes, remove and set on a towel to cool completely. The best part of this whole process is hearing a distinct "pop" when the lids have sealed. Love that sound. Just follow the directions that come with the Sure Jell exactly and you'll be fine - two things that could go wrong is  if the jars don't seal you have to store them in the fridge and eat it up quicker, or it might not be thick enough to be jam in which case you have ice cream or yogurt topping - nothing wrong with that!

roughly chop the blueberries

stir constantly

ladle into hot jars, seal with lids and rings, put into large pot fitted with a rack (note I don't have
 a rack so I put my vegetable steamer basket in the bottom of the pan, not perfect but it worked)
filled with boiling water, cover and boil for 10 minutes.

this photo is actually jam on the left, chutney
on the right - I'll share that recipe with you soon!

I found a site that does free jam labels (jamlabelizer.com) and easily printed off a few for the jam. I couldn't fit "so good it's scary" on the label so just went with blueberry...but I know it's so good it's scary ;).