Tiles gone wild

Review by Lyndee:

This weekend Melody and I took inventory of the shed and garage.  Uncle John likes to save things so this was like a virtual treasure hunt.  We found so many great things that we will turn into wonderful projects.  One great find was boxes of floor tiles.  Most were large but there were a few that were cut down to near 5 by 5 inches so we decided to get creative.  If you have mod podge, scrapbooking paper and a marker, you can do some really awesome stuff!  Molly and Melody joined me for this experiment and we each took a very different theme.  I decided to make a tile for my new cousin, Michael.  Melody went with a funny tile to have near her liquor cabinet and Molly went with inspirational. 

First ticky tack glue the paper to the tile if you’re going that route.  If you don’t want to use scrapbook paper you could draw or stencil a design with paint or sharpies too, adhere a picture or spray paint.  Once I had glued on the pieces I wanted, I stenciled my wording onto the paper.  Then apply a coat of mod podge.  Let this dry about 20 minutes and add another coat or two.  I think these turned out really neat and we had fun doing them together and bouncing ideas off of each other.  It was super cheap and I’m hoping it will be a neat keepsake for baby Michael to have in his room for years to come. 

Easy parmesan knots

Review by Lyndee:

Easy Parmesan Knots

1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/4 cup canola oil

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (I did use the green can stuff)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Roll each biscuit into a 12 inch rope and tie into a knot; tuck ends under. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; brush the warm knots with the mixture.  Yield: 10 knots.

This was a very cheap add to our lunch.  The parmesan knots felt much fancier than a normal biscuit or piece of bread and had great flavor.  I was not able to get my biscuits to roll into 12 inch ropes.  The longest I could get mine was about 5-6 inches.  It doesn’t make a difference though, as far as I could tell.  Once baked I covered with the mixture and served piping hot.  You don’t need to add butter or anything to these as the flavor is great.  This would pair wonderfully with a pasta or casserole.  It only cost $1.33 for the tube of biscuits and I had all the other ingredients on hand.  

Peanut butter yogurt pie

Review by Lyndee:

Our good friend Molly came to me last week and said she needed a sweet and easy treat she could take tailgating on Saturday.  We decided to make this but instead of doing it as a pie, we made individual pies in gladware containers so that it was no mess eating at tailgating.  All you needed was a spoon and dessert was served!

Serves 10

Prep time: 10 minutes

32 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt (I’m partial to Chobani)

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

9-inch crust of your choice (Oreo, graham cracker, etc.)

In a large mixing bowl, stir the yogurt and peanut butter with a wire whisk until blended.  Add ¼ cup powdered sugar and or cool whip to make this fluffier and sweeter if wanted.  Spread into the prepared pie shell.  Chill the pie overnight (the pie will be thicker the longer it is chilled).  Garnish with chopped peanut butter cups or whipped cream, if desired. 

Nutrition stats per slice (1/10 of pie): 270 calories, 14g fat (3g sat), 22g carbohydrate (14 g sugar, 2g fiber), 14g protein

Definitely add a little powdered sugar (about half a cup) if you want to make it sweeter.  The greek yogurt can be an overpowering taste for some.  We opted to heathify it a bit and use a natural peanut butter rather than your standard Skippy or Jiff.  Molly chose to do crushed graham crackers rather than an Oreo base because she didn’t want black crap in her teeth during the game.  She’s such a thinker sometimes.  We garnished with peanut butter and chocolate chips.  This was one of the easiest sweet treats I have ever made.  I love peanut butter so it was a total win. Will definitely try this again with the Oreo crust! 

Chocolate Covered Lyndee

Review by Lyndee:

I went to a fabulous birthday party Saturday night.  It included a fun run, a band, tons of food and tables of drinks.  I decided to get a little creative with my drink because, let's face it, sometimes rum and diet just makes my tongue bored.  I wanted to try the wedding cake flavored vodka but wasn't sure what to mix it with.  The result?  A chocolate and delicious drink that tastes kind of like a chocolate shake. I kid you not.

1 shot wedding cake vodka
1 shot Dr. McGillicuddy's vanilla schnapps
Fill rest of the cup 3/4's full of pre-mixed mudslide
Top off with 7-up or Sprite

Stir and serve over ice!

Invoke Your Inner Girl Scout Campfire Skills

By Melody
It's September -- perfect weather for sitting by a nice fire pit, visting with friends and family, renditions of Kumbaya (well maybe not so much), and cozying up next to that honey of yours in your favorite hoodie. 

If you're not a stranger to a camp fire, you're probably a pro at cooking up the perfect toasted marshmallow.  And, if you're feeling crazy, you accompany a graham cracker and piece of chocolate with that mallow -- and you've got yourself a nice, wholesome s'more!  But, for some of us, we're looking for something new to spice things up.

The fam and I headed to Swede Point this weekend with the ol' camper.  I thought this would be the perfect weekend to test out some of the camp fire foods I had found while snooping around the blogs this past week.  We had some that fell a bit flat, some that were good, and some that were stellar!!

BANANA BOATS

• Banana
• Marshmallows
• Chocolate Chips
• Crushed Walnuts

Slit the banana peel down the concave (inside) curve of the banana.  Stuff the banana with marshmallow, chocolate chips, and nuts.  You kind of have to press them in, and the banana will look like it's bursting.  Then, wrap it with tin foil, and place it in the fire pit of hot coals for about five-ten minutes. 

The end product looked okay, but the taste was pretty flat.  I enjoyed the mallows, chocolate and nuts; but not the banana part.  It tasted mushy, and quite frankly, the only time I like warm banana taste is when it's baked in bread.  If I wanna eat a mushy tasting banana, I'll eat the black ones that always seem to make their way to my kitchen counter as soon as they arrive home from the grocery store. 

BAKED APPLES

• Apple
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Crushed Walnutes

Core the apple.  Peel the apple.  The recipe says to keep the apple whole, but I think next time I'll slice it up.  Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on the outside and inside of apple.  Stuff nuts in the center of the apple.  Wrap the apple in tin foil, and throw on the camp fire coals for ten or so minutes. 

When this was finished, it tasted like we were eating the inside of an apple pie -- DELICIOUS!! 

 

FONDUE MARSHMALLOWS

• Large marshmallows
• Hershey's chocolate syrup
• Crushed Nuts, oreos, m&ms, or any other sweet treat crushed up

Roast marshmallows. 

Then dip into a bowl filled with chocolate syrup, and then dip into your crushed nuts (or other sweet treat). 

This was a hit for the kids.  And, it was something a bit different from the regular s'more.  We used plastic forks in order to make it easier (and les messier) to dip and eat. 

 

EVERYTHING POTATOES

• 1 pound Shredded potatoes (thawed)
• 6 oz sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1/2 cup Cream of Chicken Soup
• Bacon Bits (optional)
• Whatever Else You'd like to Add to this Mixture

Combine everything together in a big bowl.  Be creative with measurements and determine what works with the rest of everything else you've adde.  Pour the mixture onto some aluminum foil, and wrap it up.  Throw it on the coals for about 15 minutes, and when done you'll have a great side-dish for any meal. 

 

CAMPFIRE PIE

• Pie Crust
• Pie Filling (or chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc.)
• PAM Spray

Spray the cooker with PAM.  Tear off some pie crust, and press it into both sides of cooker.  Add about three tablespoons of filling. 

Then, place on the campfire for a couple minutes.  Flip the cooker, and cook for another minute or so. Check to see how the pie crust looks, and then determine if it's ready to take off the fire.  The crust should be a nice golden brown.

These were absolutey delicious, and tasted something like a Toaster Streudal, only much, MUCH better!!  Loved 'em!  Even the hubby got excited about this one, and he usually doesn't stray too far from his normal camping staples for food.  

Hope you enjoy these, and please let me know how they go, and if you have any tips for improving these recipes.  I've kind of put my special touch on each in order to make them easy and less time-consuming. 

Halloween Countdown!

At least three times a week, I get asked, "how many more days till Halloween?"  So, I decided to search the internet looking for some cutesy DIY Halloween countdown similar to some of those Christmas countdown calendars where you get a piece of chocolate everyday until you reach the 25th!  Now, I've seen some pretty darn, crafty Halloween countdowns as I google through the web.  Some moms have too much time on their hands, or their taking excessive amounts of caffeine -- whatever it is, I want what they're taking!!

I wanted something kid-friendly, but still looked beautiful as home fall decor.  I also wanted something that both kids could visually use as a countdown even though Jackson isn't good visually with anything much over 10 right now.  I also wanted a concept similar to a Christmas calendar where you get a little prize or piece of chocolate with each passing day.  Here's what I came up with...

Where's the Fridge?

Do you have trouble finding your fridge sometimes because it's covered with so many little masterpieces created by your young little artists?  Online, I have seen people so so many cute little things to hang on walls that display their little one's works adorned with a cheerful, "Look What I Made" moniker.  However, I have a small home, not a lot of wall space, and the fridge in my house just seems to have a natural gravitational pull for all things photographic or artistic.  So, there are times when one strong, determined magnet is attempting to hold up about five art projects.  And, one day when you're swinging that freezer door open to find a quick frozen pizza to pop in before ball practice, said magnet says, "I've had enough of this thankless job!" and allows everything to come swooshing to the floor.

So, here's what I did, and now I have no problems locating my fridge, and the kids still have a place to proudly display their artwork in a more organized...and secure...manner.

1. Get some ribbon or string.
2. Get some of those hangy thingies that stick to the wall.  Or, you can get a wreath magnet (found at Hobby Lobby) strong enough to hold alot of weight.  
3. Afix your ribbon/string to the hangy things or magnet, and double knot them.
4. Use clothes pins to hang the artwork, awards or whatever else you'd like to show off.

My fridge seems a little less crazy, the artwork seems to appear a little more organized, and my magnets are no longer pushed to extremes.  All is well!