Hacks, Hacks, Hacks! by Brooke

Hello, everyone! so today I have 2 hacks for you! they are sooooooooooo easy!   Hack 1. is a storage hack. so if you have something that you can hook a magnet to, (whiteboard, fridge, etc.) this hack is for you! in the school section at Target you can get locker pencil holders and storage container things that have magnets on them already to hang up in your locker. I have a pencil holder from the back to school section a couple of years ago (but they still sell it because it so cool, haha) I just hook it to the side of my mini fridge and have it hold my hand sanitizers and sunglasses and I never lose them! so you should try this hack.

Hack 2. this is how to save money.. so I have a problem with saving all my coins I just lose them and it's still money! so you just get a glass jug from Amazon or wherever and you put all your coins in it! after 2 months I saved $3 in quarters and $4  in pennies, dimes, and nickels! it works so well and helps me save money! you should try it! hope these hacks help you!






one year ago today: see what Cathy did to an old dresser here. 

Personalized Shopping Bag

This is a really easy idea for a cute personalized gift - I didn't actually make the bag, just designed the print for the front and ordered it from Shutterfly...so if you want to give these as gifts you need a little bit of planning ahead but it's a simple process - upload your photos to Shutterfly or whatever site you want to use that can turn your pics into gifts, play around with colors and sizes, preview your design and then order.

This photo is one of a series I did for that creative photo class we took last year at Pauls Photo in Torrance, CA (click here for that post and to see a couple more photos like this). Since it's a cute story about my sister and I like the colors I thought it would make a nice little gift - and a convenient holder for a bigger birthday present I gave her yesterday. Cute, right?

I also made one of the paper pouches (click here for how to make them) like I assembled for Ronda - this one is 1/2" bigger overall to accommodate a gift card. Punch a hole in the top and add curly ribbon for an easy finishing touch.

one year ago today: "Quebec Chicken" for my sister's birthday dinner last year.

Chicken and Tortellini Salad

Found this recipe at cookinglight.com - we don't eat pasta very often but this caught my eye and then I was craving pasta of course...I am SO glad I made this. Hit the spot, easy to make, and it's really good.

Ingredients:

1 (9 oz.) package refrigerated cheese tortellini, cooked according to the package directions.
8 ounces shredded rotisserie chicken (skinless and boneless), about 2 cups
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 T. fresh lemon juice (note I didn't have a lemon so just used bottled juice and no rind)
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups baby arugula
1/3 cup thinly sliced shallot (note I omitted that 'cuz Dave doesn't like onions)
3/4 ounce shaved parmesan cheese, about 1/4 cup

Directions:

In a small bowl combine garlic and salt, mash together to form a paste (note I did not do this, I just used garlic salt). Add oil, rind, lemon juice, sugar, and pepper; stir with a whisk.

Place tortellini and chicken in a large bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons dressing and toss to coat. Gently fold in arugula, shallot, and remaining dressing. Sprinkle with parmesan.

4 (1 1/2 cup) servings. Per serving: 400 calories, 18g fat, 27g protein, 35g carb, 3g fiber


one year ago today: copycat purple drink

Baked Spinach Dip

Cassandra told me about this dip her sister-in-law makes but I kept forgetting - until we were having family dinner the other night and I wanted to make an easy appetizer and remembered this. It comes together super fast, only 4 ingredients, and was devoured in like 10 minutes. Seriously, they were scraping the dish after it was all gone! I only made a half recipe because it really sounded like it was going to make a lot - after watching these people gobble it down I totally should have made the full recipe!

Check out how easy this is: Spray a pan with non stick spray. Chop one bag of fresh spinach into pieces and wilt in the pan over medium heat - doesn't take very long - then sprinkle with garlic powder and a little garlic salt. In a bowl combine 1 block of cream cheese, 1/2 bag shredded mozzarella cheese, and the spinach. Put in a small baking dish and heat thru in a 325' oven.

Note: I baked it because I don't have a small crock pot to keep it warm which is what I originally thought I was going to do.  She just adds all the ingredients to the wilted spinach in the pan, stirs until hot and melted, and serves. Since it was scarfed up so fast this totally would work! If it's going to sit out for awhile I like the baked or crock pot idea since it tastes best hot. Serve with crackers, bagel chips, tortilla chips...whatever!

Note #2: It was in the oven for quite awhile before I served it so it sort of formed a browned crust on top which everyone loved. If you serve it fresh from the pan it won't look like my picture, it'll be more creamy and white like traditional dip.

Like the action shots? They wouldn't stop eating long enough for me to take their pictures...;)



one year ago today: DIY candy bouquet

Beaded Stretch Bracelets with Charms

Happy Birthday to my niece Paige! She made a comment a couple months ago about liking big beaded stretchy bracelets right now and wished she had more - I filed that away for a little thing to make her for her birthday. These are really simple and quick to make - I made some before (click here for that post) but those were out of smaller beads and included words so these are a little different.

Cut 11 inches of stretchy cord (it comes on a spool, clear like fishing line but thicker and really stretchy. don't use old cord, for some reason it gets brittle after being stored in your craft room for a long time but you won't realize it until you've made your bracelet and then when putting it on it snaps and beads go flying everywhere. yeah, ask me how I know). Tie a knot in one end, string your beads and charms, knot both ends together tightly. Add a drop of glue to the knot so it'll hold and then trim the tails off. Done. Easy!

tie a lose knot in one end or the beads will
fall off while you are stringing!

Note - I used 6mm and 8mm beads for these bracelets. The charms needed to be attached to a jump ring before adding to the string so they were able to move better, otherwise they stayed stuck in place on the bracelet. When attaching a jump ring you need to open it up by twisting the ends towards and away from you - don't pull them apart or it's hard to get them lined back up again.

opening a jump ring to attach a charm

added a drop of glue to the knots, waiting for
it to dry before cutting off the excess tails. 

one year ago today: my favorite homemade citrus pesto - oh man this is SO good!

Breakfast Salad

Yep, you read that right. Breakfast...SALAD. I had never thought of such a thing until I read an article recently at Cooking Light and had my eyes opened - why not?

So I made a simple salad of arugula, chopped tomatoes and avocado, leftover toasted pine nuts and drizzled it with a little extra virgin olive oil. Topped that with a basted egg (similar to a poached egg, click here to see how to make them), season with salt and pepper. The runny egg yolk mixed with everything and made sort of a "dressing" for the salad. I know it's weird. It is. But so, so, surprisingly good! Will you try salad for breakfast? If so, let me know what you come up with!




one year ago today: birthday dessert assortment ice cream sandwiches, mini banana pie, brownies

Zucchini Muffins

 The original title of this recipe is "the best zucchini muffins" (click here for post and recipe found at melskitchencafe) and I baked them thinking "right, sure, the best..uh huh, whatever" - I had the ingredients and I like this blog so I figured what the heck. Even after making them I wasn't convinced they were "the best" but then I started getting feedback about them - Brooke's friend Erica requested that I make more just for her and my friend Rhonda B. said "they are recipe book worthy" to which I replied that I'm quoting her on the blog and she said that's fine as long as I share the recipe. Which makes me want to hoard the recipe and not tell anyone since they are that great hahahaha. But I wouldn't do that :)

So here ya go Rhonda!

Ingredients (I'm giving you how I did it, Mel's options are in parentheses):

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil (you can substitute avocado, vegetable, or coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute white whole wheat)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini lightly squeezed of excess water
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, optional (you can use milk chocolate or bittersweet)
• coarse sugar for sprinkling on top, optional 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350'. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla until well-combined.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until the batter is just mixed together, do not over-mix.
5. Stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips if using. It's ok if the batter is still slightly lumpy.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tin. Add a few chocolate chips to the top of each muffin for presentation (note: I did it but it is totally not necessary), or sprinkle with coarse sugar if you omit the chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the tops spring back lightly to the touch.
8. Let cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.                    Makes 12 muffins

my notes:

• this made 12 standard size muffins filled 2/3 full, plus I had enough leftover batter for 11 mini muffins. If you make minis they bake for about 8 minutes.
• I shred the zucchini using my food processor with the shredding disk. You could use a box grater instead.
• to squeeze the water out of shredded zucchini  - I gently press handfuls between my palms over the sink, then put on a paper towel and press a little more. It doesn't have to be bone dry, just remove the excess.

one year ago today: mason jar lunchables. I still think this is a genius idea!

Candy's Corn Shortcut

After I posted last week about my lazy girl way to microwave ears of corn (click here for that post) Candy sent me this even easier trick:

"Leave corn in husk, put in microwave for 4 minutes per ear (only do 2 ears at a time for a total of 8 minutes). Remove from microwave and using hot pads (super hot!) to hold the ear, cut off the bottom including about 1/2" of corn, then shake out the ear by holding the top (with a hot pad). Voila! No shucking!"

There are several examples on youtube you can search for if you want to watch a demo.

Cool! Thanks Candy  :)

PS: this post title made me chuckle - instead of "candy corn" it's "Candy's Corn" ;)

one year ago today: Mickey made a Hello doormat that I love.

Pompom Throw

Remember the small pompoms I made into earrings last month? Now that I've learned how easy it is to make pompoms I found another fun thing to do with them - tack large ones onto the corners of a throw. I bought this throw for cheap planning to use it to back a crocheted afghan, but I've been seeing these pompom throws everywhere and wanted to make one...and since I've mentioned before what an instant gratification kind of crafter I am (using whatever I have on hand when the whim strikes) I'm using the throw for this project and will get something else for the backing!

Click here to see how to make your own pompoms (quick reminder: make 2 circles and cut a smaller circle from the middles, notch it so they make a "c" shape, wind yarn around, cut between the 2 circles to make a whole bunch of fringe, thread a long piece of yarn thru the 2 circles and tie the pompom together, remove the cardboard) - for these I increased the size of the cardboard to 4 inches with a 1 inch circle cut out of the middle. Then just wind the yard all the way across and back - I repeated across and back to make sure they're thick enough, you want nice full pompoms. Follow the instructions I showed you when making the earrings - carefully cut between the 2 pieces of cardboard (you really have to hold this good, it's now so big if you let go of any of the ends you'll have a big old mess and a pile of little bits of yarn!), run a long length of yarn between the 2 pieces and tie very tightly, then trim the pompom into a nice round shape. Then simply stitch to the corners of a throw - I just ran my needle threaded with embroidery floss thru the pompom and attached to the corner a couple times.

Cute, right? Let's call this "Christmas in August" (it's a new thing I just made up hahah) and plan ahead for some easy fun gifts!

Note: by the time I made the fourth pompom I had an idea to make this even easier - put the long piece of yarn between the 2 pieces of cardboard before winding on the yarn, you have to sort of work around the long piece but once you're ready to cut the pompom the long piece is right there ready to hold everything together...one less thing to try to maneuver while holding the lose yarn in your hand.

PS: these are super thick and you'll want to use scissors that can stand up to the heavy cutting - I actually broke a pair trying to get thru all the yarn!

One year ago today: roasted tomatoes, zucchini, and white beans. We still eat this all the time, so good...

Corn Salad

Today's post should just be titled "I love corn" and then have no words - just pictures -  because really, any way you make it is good. Doesn't matter what you do to it. Don't even need a recipe hahaha!

Having said that, I still want to share this terrific salad that I found in an All Recipes magazine (do you get these? I have no idea why I do - and with every issue I receive there is a notice that this is my last one unless I renew...but I didn't sign up to start with!), even though you can't go wrong doing whatever with fresh corn in my book,  this is fantastic.


CORN SALAD WITH CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING

1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 pinches cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons water
4 ears corn, husks and silks removed and kernels cut off cobs (about 4 cups of kernels)
1 cup diced roasted red bell peppers (or tomatoes, see my note)
5 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced, or to taste

1. Whisk together first 9 ingredients (only using 1/4 cup olive oil, reserve the 1 tablespoon) until dressing is thick and creamy. Cover tightly and chill until ready to use, up to 5 days ahead.

2. Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in corn and cook until light golden brown and toasted, about 15 minutes.

3. Transfer to a bowl and stir in red bell pepper. Pour enough dressing over corn mixture to coat completely (you'll probably only need 6 Tablespoons or so). Season with extra salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

4. Stir in basil just before serving.

per 3/4 cup serving: 183 calories, 9.5g fat


NOTE: I omitted the red pepper and used chopped tomatoes instead. Also added a little crumbled goat cheese. SO GOOD!!

served with grilled chicken and steamed broccoli