Holiday Potpourri--plus printable tags

SOOOOOO I have gone down the slippery slope to PINTEREST obsession I think.  ONCE again I couldn't get an idea out of my head and would not rest until I had made some Stove Top Simmering Holiday Potpourri.  I mean WHO DOESN'T trade sleep for crafts??????   Anyway....this is my new favorite thing.  I have it cooking on my stove as I type and it is making me happy to have the holly jolly scents of the season wafting through my house.  LOVE IT!!!!

I used a combination of LOTS of potpourri reasearch, but mostly used THIS post for the recipe, and about a million others for how to put it into a jar.  GO check out THIS one to see how pretty it looks cooking on your stove...delicious.  PLUS I think it looks so yum in the jar.  I used large jars and small jars.  The small ones needed some coaxing to get it all in and couldn't hold all the water.  The large ones had EXTRA room.  So I guess the choice is yours.

BTW...those who know me may wonder why I care that it smells....being that my allergies made me an UN-smeller for years.  Well luck may have it that on Wednesday I went to my ENT doctor and got some new meds.  RIGHT IN TIME TOO because as of yesterday I am back amongst the world of SMELLERS!!! YAY!!!!

Ok...side note over. 

I found the little red lids at WALMART in the canning aisle.  I pretty much HAD TO HAVE THEM.  I mean red and white check...SERIOUSLY!!!  They were cheap too...less than 2 bucks for a whole stack.

Ok...so since I changed up the tutorial a bit...here is how I made mine.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup of fresh cranberries

1 orange

1 Tbsp whole cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. ground nutmeg (I never found any other kind)

***sidenote again***I bought cinnamon sticks at WALMART in the regular McCormick spice bottles.  There were only about 9 in a jar and cost around 5 dollars.  Kinda spendy.  I read online that you can get them at natural food stores or specialty food shops...I didn't try.  I did find some on Amazon though that may have been cheaper, but then you have shipping.  I never found cinnamon stick pieces in the stores (but I didn't search too hard).  I just paid the 10 dollars and moved on.  Just a thought!!

OK...Now the process...

I cut my oranges into eighths and threw half of them into the bottom of the jar.  Then I added half of the cranberries.  Next, I dumped in the cloves and nutmeg.  Then I added some water (I added half the water to get stuff floating).  Next, I put the cinnamon sticks around the outside of the jar.  I thought they were the cutest part, so I wanted them seen:)   Then I added the rest of the oranges and the rest of the cranberries on top.  Finally I added more water until it was about 3/4 full.  With the smaller jar...it was more tricky and more trial and error.  PLUS the recipient will have to add water for themselves when they cook it. 

OK...so the instructions for cooking are as follows:

Dump the contents of the jar into a small saucepan.  Always add enough water to  cover the bottom of your pan.   Simmer on low heat to release the lovely holiday scent.  Remove from heat and refrigerate at night.  Continue adding water and enjoy through the holiday season. Happy holidays!!!

I would probably print up the instructions and maybe add them to the back of the jar.  I didn't do that with this batch because they were for my friends.  BUT for my neighbors, I might wanna add the rules...that way I don't have to stand on the porch for 5 minutes explaining!!!  Just a thought:)

Moving right along....I printed the tags up on card stock and hooked them to the jars with large flat glue dots....worked great. 

Here is the printable tag.  If you would like to use it click the picture...insert into a word document...and print.  I cut and pasted it 6 times onto the page, made 2 columns, and printed 6 to a page.  Worked out great. 

Now follow my lead and make one for all your friends, neighbors, visiting teacher ladies, co-workers.....BUT FIRST make some for yourself!!!!  Happy Holiday!!!!

A few Thanksgiving memories...

I had a few successes (is that a word??) this Thanksgiving, so I want to put the links here on my blog so that I can find them again next year.  I hate when I have to search and search for the links that I have used in the past---darn that internet is a big place:) 

FIRST OFF...I have to admit something a little embarrassing.  I MADE HOMEMADE ROLLS by myself for the first time EVER!!!  I know...hard to believe for a 30 year old housewife.  BUT I have always let others do it, or been happy with the lovely rolls from the store.  BUT I saw this recipe (on PINTEREST of course) and got it into my head that I wanted to bake.  SO I DID.  It was so easy and actually kinda fun.  NOW if only bread didn't make me gain weight just by having it in the house...

 Just a warning...these have butter in the mix, then have butter spread onto the rolled out dough, and finally melted butter smeared on top. YUM!!! 
Now I realize I am the youngest child in my family and that by law my family cannot put me down.  AND I know that my family would praise me for bringing canned olives to dinner.  BUT despite that, they did ALL tell me how good these were.  SOOO I am pretty sure they meant it:)
These were seriously easy enough that my happy helper got to roll a few up.  AND she got to eat the first one (and she liked it)!!!

OK...enough about the rolls.  Another link I want to hang onto is for some Thanksgiving printable placemats.  I printed these up, cut them out, and glued them onto cardstock.  There were lots of different free printable mats, but these were the only ones I found that printed on regular 8.8x11 papaer.  Cannot beat that!!!   I took them for the kids table and they super enjoyed coloring away....worked like a charm!!!  BUT there were tons more free printable on the site...napking rings, centerpiece, banner, tons of stuff.  Next year I think I need to go all out.  Since I don't EVER have to cook the turkey, I should be in charge of something (besides canned olives). 

SOOO Thanksgiving is over....is it really time to take down the cute Fall decorations I just finished getting up????  Good thing decorating for Christmas is SOO much fun:)

A is for APPLE (sauce)

SOOOO for the last week I have pretty much been eating NOTHING by applesauce.  OK....that is a lie.  I have been eating birthday brownies, lemon bars (a birthday gift), and more double chocolate birthday brownies.  AND APPLESAUCE.  I FINALLY decided to try making my own applesauce and it was a SUCCESS!!!  Easy...check.  Cheap....check.  YUMMY...double check!!!!  

BTW...this was not healthy non-sugared applesauce.  As you can tell by the brownish color, this was brown sugary, delicious, almost like apple-pie filling applesauce. 

I started with THIS recipe that I found...of course on Pinterest.  Here is what I did. 

First I took all of my apples.  I had lots of different kinds.  I just dumped them all together.  I peeled and cored them by hand because I was not doing too many.  It took about 20 minutes for this large bowl.  I only cut them into 4ths...you just have to cook a little longer.  

I had around 15-20 small/medium apples.  I dumped them into a huge pot and added the following ingredients:

1.5 cups of of water

1.5 tsp of cinnamon

1 cup packed brown sugar (this is an estimate...kinda up to you how sweet you want it)

1 tsp salt

a squirt of lemon or lime juice (optional)

Then bring to a boil. 

Cover and reduce heat. 

Check out all of the brown sugar!!! 

Then....cook cook cook.  VOILA!!!!  Applesauce.  And the added bonus is that it tastes like apple pie and WHO doesn't like apple pie. 

I cooked for about 1 hour.  Every 15 minutes I stirred and mashed up the apples a bit. You will know when the apples are DONE!  Mash everything up and enjoy the lovely appley smell in your house.   

Then sit down on your couch and enjoy a big bowl of appley sugary goodness and watch a bit of Grey's Anatomy.  Seriously...nothing gets better than all that!!!

yum yum….ready for Thanksgiving recipe

 

Did anyone think I had fallen off the planet???  Just my computer did.  It has been in the shop for TWO WEEKS----yikes. Anyway…I am back to life and back in this century (how did we survive without computers??). 

Last week I decided to try some of my mom’s old recipes---you know those favorite things we ate growing up???  Well I had lots of them and sadly I did not know how to make ANY of them.  So I got out of my Taco and Spaghetti rut and tried some new things.  Some were successes and some were edible, but either way it was NOT another night of pizza:) 

Any guesses on what I made first????  Yummy delicious Stove Top Casserole.  Am I the only one who believes stuffing is the BEST food around???  I could even do without the turkey if I could have the stuffing!!!  Anyway….I found a few recipes out there, but none that sounded JUST RIGHT!!!  You know…how momma made it:)  So I mixed and matched and made up my own.  Here it is….

Stove Top Casserole

You will need:

• Chicken (3 or 4 large breasts)
• a couple stalks of celery and a couple carrots
• cream of chicken soup—1 regular can
• 1/2 can (from soup) of milk

Pre-heat your oven to 350.

FIRST, start off by boiling your chicken.  You could use a full chicken or leftover chicken or turkey, but I used chicken breast because that is what I have around.  You want enough to fill the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish.  I used the 3 HUGE breasts and it was the perfect amount.  Put your chicken in a large pot to boil with salt and pepper to taste.  Then while your chicken is boiling, cut up some carrots and celery. (I used 3 or four of each, but again---to your liking).  I cut mine into pretty small pieces because I did not want HUGE chunks in my finished casserole. I cannot eat chunks in my jello either---no bueno!!!  ANYWAY….Throw your carrots and celery into the pot to boil with your chicken. 

While boiling your chicken, prepare your stuffing as directed on the box. 

After your chicken is well boiled, shred it.  I use 2 forks and pull in different directions.  Your chicken should just fall into pieces. You could also just cut your chicken into small cubes, but I am a fan of shredded chicken:)  Fill the bottom of your baking dish with the chicken.  Then strain your broth and keep out your vegetables.  Throw the carrots and celery on top of the chicken.  You really could use any vegetable you like here, I think broccoli would be good, or peas.  I liked the carrots and celery because it added some texture and NOT a lot of taste.  Plus, it is nice to know there are a few veggies hiding in ANY meal right???

Next, mix your milk and soup together in a bowl.  When it is well mixed, dump it evenly over the chicken and veggies.  When your stuffing is done, dump it right on top of everything else. 

Bake for about 30 minutes (you want to soup to be bubbling).  Voila.  yummy stuffing goodness!!!! 

This is a great recipe for after Thanksgiving because you already have the turkey cooked and probably have leftover stuffing.  Just throw it together and have a new meal----because you can only eat cold turkey sandwiches for SO many days right:)

  By the way… these pictures were all graciously donated by the internet….my food was not so pretty, nor did it stick around long enough for photos!!!

Taco Soup Deliciousness

Long time no post huh???  I have been having some personal problems...

Just kidding, but seriously----still not back into blogging mode quite yet.  Maybe someday I will actually go into my craft room for more than just borrowing scissors. 

As for right now I thought I would share a recipe.....NOT just ANY recipe.....THE RECIPE.  If you have a funeral or a baby....guess what I am bringing over????  This is my GO TO recipe and ALL of my friends know it.  If I am asked to bring food to a party it is either THIS or 7 layer bean dip---ALWAYS:)

So here it is....

Jessica's Taco Soup

(disclaimer: I never make this the same 2 times in a row, so this is a bit of an estimate on ingredients, but it will get you started in the right direction at least.)

In a crock pot or large soup pot add:

2 or 3 cans of diced tomatoes (leave all of the juice for this and ALL cans of ingredients)

2 or 3 cans of beans (black, pinto, or chile, but not kidney)

1 or 2 pounds of cooked ground beef or turkey (or for something different you can add 2 or 3 cans of cooked chicken --like the cans from Costco.  Shred it up a bit and it is like pulled chicken in the soup---mouth-watering)

1 can of corn

1 small can of diced green chiles

1 package of taco seasoning

Either turn on your crock pot and let this simmer all day, OR turn your pot onto med/high until it starts to boil.  Then cover, turn down to low and let simmer.  It really just needs to be warmed up because everything is cooked, but I like to let it simmer at least an hour for flavor. 

Then when you are ready to eat, top with grated cheese, sour-cream, crushed taco chips (or fritos--yum), and cilantro.  Cilantro is a new addition for me, but makes ALLLLLLL the difference.  Don't leave it out:)  I have also added chopped avacado on top, but not everyone loves them the way I do. 

I wish this picture was of MY actual soup, but there is nothing resembling homemade happening at OUR house right now---but whoever made this doesn't it look yummy???!!!

Pumpkin cake in April--Why not???

I was cleaning out my pantry the other day and found a cake mix and a can of pumpkin.  I know it is not really the right season, but I LOVE pumpkin cake so I whipped up a batch using the easiest pumpkin cake recipe EVER. 

All you need is 1 boxed cake mix ( I prefer spice or carrot) and a can of pumpkin (or pumpkin pie filling--either works).

You just mix the two together---do not add anything else!!!  Simple huh????  It works to cook in a 9x9 for really thick cake.  Or a bigger pan for thinner cake.  Or a cupcake pan for cupcakes or muffins. I like to call them muffins because I can eat more muffins than cupcakes without feeling guilty.  Use the baking temperature from the cake mix and cook until a toothpick comes out clean.  It can take a while to cook, but it is worth it.  They stay super moist and they are low fat (compared to actual cake).  I don't know how LOW is LOW, but I tend to not think about it and eat a ton.  It is good with cream cheese frosting, but my favorite is with whipped cream on top,  This is my GO-TO recipe.  If I forgot that I need to make something I whip these up and VOILA--yumminess.  I need to try it with a SPRINGY type cake mix and see how it works.  HMMMMM????? 

Yummy and Fast Recipes

I have been trying to TRY to make some new things for dinner lately and thought I would share a couple of the successes.  Both recipes come from the Taste of Home Busy Family Recipes magazine.  The magazine is full of fast meals that take very few ingredients or things you would have on hand.  First up...

Taco Salad Waffles

I used their pictures and not my real food---mostly because we ate too fast:)

These sound weird, but were actually fun and good---something new for a change!!

You need....

1 pound grond beef

1 cup salsa

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles (I skipped these)

1 envelope taco seasoning

frozen eggo waffles

Cook and drain your ground beef.  Then add salsa, chiles and taco seasoning and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Toast Waffles and top with beef, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes ( I skipped them--yuck!!), avocado, and sour cream. ENJOY!!!!

Next, BLT Pizza

You need....

1 tube (8 ounces) cresent rolls

1 cup mayo (I used sour cream)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

shredded lettuce

12 bacon strips cooked and crumbled (I used REAL bacon bits instead and they worked great--not the yucky fake red ones)

Tomato

Sliced green onions

shredded cheese

Separate cresent dough into 8 triangles and place on pizza pan with points toward the center. (I used a square cookie sheet and just placed them all in there until they fit).

Make sure that the dough comes up the sides of the pan a little bit.  Seal all of the perforations.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. COOL.  ( I put the crust in the freezer to cool because I was in a hurry.  It worked and only took a few minutes.)

In a small bowl combine mayo and mustard ( I hate mayo and think it is gross and fattening so I used no fat sour cream and it worked great.  I also used more mustard to give it a kick).  Spread this onto the crust. Sprinkle with lettuce, bacon, tomato, onion and cheese.  It is a cool  (not cooked) pizza and also was good the next day out of the fridge.  SUPER EASY.  Todd thought it tasted like a Big Mac because of the mustard.  I don't know about that, but it was yum!!!

Good luck and have a yummy dinner!!!!