Craftiness :)

I have so much more time on my hands now that I actually get to do some craft projects! I have had so many ideas of things that I wanted to try but never seemed to have the time while in school. Luckily, that has changed :) I have a little 3 drawer chest on wheels that I have filled with all my craft supplies and it sits in the garage. Phil swears he's going to build me a little work bench, we'll see how that goes. I have started several projects recently and am loving making things and just using my creativity.

I have been obsessed with monograms and initials lately. I found a initial wreath on Pinterest (go figure!) that I have been wanting to make for a while. So I went to JoAnn's and grabbed the supplies and raided the clearance fabrics for some cheap fabric to attempt fabric flowers for this wreath. This was a fairly easy project, but took lots of time to wrap. I ended up just wrapping the straight parts and went back for the curves. I tried wrapping the curve parts the best I could, but in some spots they were just getting too bulky, so I stopped wrapping and proceeded with cutting strips of the jute and gluing them. This was a pain, but I was able to achieve the look that I wanted w/o all the extra bulk on those areas.

My next part was to try and make the rolled fabric flowers. I ended up just looking at a quick tutorial on Pinterest and was able to make them fairly quickly. The only problem I had was they weren't as wide and flat as the one's that I had seen. They were fuller, but I ended up liking them better that way :)

So here is the final product:

I think it turned out well! I have it on our front door currently, but as soon as our bedroom is re-decorated I will be moving it in there.

Here are the links to the ideas for the project:http://mysparkle.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-rolled-flowers.html

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78019133/monogram-wreath?ref=sr_gallery_21&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=monogram+wreath&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_ship_to=US&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

BeTtEr ThAn AnYtHiNg CaKe!

I seem to be on a sweet treat kick lately. I recently made this yummy, SUPER easy dessert for a nurse I was orienting for her last day on orientation, before I set her loose on her own as a new grad J. I needed something super easy to make because I had planned on making it after work to take the next day. Usually when I work, I get home about 8pm and have to be up @5:40 am to get ready for work. I really wanted to have something special for her, but I really wanted sleep too. So I turned to my trusty friend Pinterest to search for an easy dessert. I had pinned this yummy looking treat a few days earlier, and after checking it out, decided it was the one to make. It turned out to be a fabulously yummy choice. It only lasted about an hour or so after I set it out. I swear you put food in front of nurses and we inhale J We eat what we can, when we can, otherwise it may be nothing at all. We don’t hold any prisoners, if it’s there, then it’s free game.

Better Than Anything Cake

Recipe via http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/06/better-than-anything-cake/

Ingredients

•1 box chocolate cake mix and any ingredients it requires
•1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
•1 (8 oz) jar caramel topping
•1 (8 oz) container cool whip thawed to room temp
•3 Heath Candy Bars chopped

Instructions

 1.Bake cake according to directions in a 9x13 pan.

 2.Let cake cool for about 5 minutes.

 3.Poke holes in cake with the handle end of a wooden spoon.

 4.While cake is still warm, slowly pour over sweetened condensed milk over the top   making sure some gets in all the holes of the cake.

5.Next drizzle the caramel topping evenly over the cake slowly, making sure some gets in all the holes as well.

6.Spread cool whip over the top evenly.

7.Sprinkle with Heath Candy bar pieces.

8.Store in fridge until ready to eat. Store any leftovers in fridge.

 I actually didn’t have heath bars, so I used chocolate chips and heath toffee bit pieces in place of the actual crushed bars. I was also thinking of all the combos you could come up with, crushed oreos, crushing graham crackers and adding marshmallow fluff to the whipped cream. The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

Summer Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

I of course came across this refreshingly wonderful cake on Pinterest and made it for our families Memorial Day BBQ, and everyone loved it. I have so many amazing looking things pinned on my board, I am not quite sure how I will ever make it all, but I am sure going to try. I love the concept of Pinterest and being able to have a virtual pinboard to keep all these wonderful ideas, recipes, tips and tricks all in one place, lord knows my brain would never hold it all :) I have started making some awesome crafts, which I will hopefully be able to blog about soon.

            This cake was super easy to make and assemble, very low key, but very yummy. I need to invest in one of those cake cutters that cut’s the cakes evenly, but this time I stuck with some dental floss. It wasn’t entirely even, but I never proclaimed to be a master baker :) I’ve already had to give this recipe to several people that saw my picture of the cake that I posted to facebook, and it’s been a hit so far.

Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

Recipe via http://easybaked.net/2011/06/19/strawberry-lemonade-layer-cake/

Ingredients:

1 Box strawberry cake mix (follow directions on the box to make for 2 layer cake)

8oz. cream cheese, room temp

1 packet lemonade kool-aid drink  mix

Yellow food coloring for desired color

2 cups marshmallow creme (I used a 16 oz jar)

8oz. cool whip

Fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions:

Make strawberry cake as directed on the box in 2 round 9inch pans. When done place cakes on wire racks to cool completely.

Cream together the cream cheese, lemonade packet and yellow food coloring to desired color. Mix in the marshmallow creme until well blended, then add the cool whip and mix lightly until well blended. Place in refrigerator until cake is completely cooled.

Cut both cakes in half so that there will be 4 layers, alternate layers with filling until assembled. Place sliced strawberries on the top to garnish.

*After eating the cake I decided that on each layer of filling I would also add sliced strawberries to add more flavor. I felt that each bite needed strawberries so that was what I came up with to fix that problem :)

Hope you enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So I have tried yet another skinnytaste.com recipe. If you have not checked this website out, you need to, you will not be disappointed! All of Gina’s recipes have been fabulous. Some may seem overwhelming due to the list of ingredients, don’t let that deter you. Most of the recipes are pretty easy and VERY tasty. This particular recipe was super easy, I let the chicken cook all day in the crock pot, and then shredded it, and added sauce and it was pretty much done.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps (recipe adapted from skinnytaste.com)

4-5 chicken breasts (can be frozen)

Diced onion (about ¼ cup)

1 cup chicken broth

1-2 cloves garlic minced

½ cup franks red hot buffalo sauce

Iceberg lettuce leaves

Carrot sticks (cut match stick thin)

Place chicken (frozen or thawed), onion and chicken broth in crock pot. You may need to add some water for the liquid to cover the chicken breasts. Let cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours. When chicken is done, pull from the crock pot and shred. Keep about ½ cup of the chicken broth in the crock pot. After chicken is shredded, place it back in the crock pot with the ½ cup hot sauce and chicken broth. Let it simmer in the crock pot for about 30 min. Serve on an iceberg lettuce leaf, add carrots and blue cheese or low fat ranch for garnish. Enjoy!

I absolutely love Buffalo wings. They are one of my favorite foods, unfortunately my hips, thighs and belly no longer adore them. This was an awesome way to get my buffalo chicken in a healthier way. I also used the crock pot liners for the first time. I think that they were totally worth the money; one thing that I hate is cleaning the crock pot. So I will be using those more in the future for sure!

I'm back.....with some yummy goodness!

I’m BAAAACK!

Well after a long break from blogging, cooking and pretty much anything I enjoyed due to school, I can finally say I AM DONE! I graduated with my Masters in Nursing Administration, with a 4.0 to boot! Yay me J

Well enough bragging on myself. I am back in the kitchen, starting some crafting, reading some awesome books, and I love it. Over the past year I have discovered Pinterest. Ever heard of it?? If not, then you might live under a rock. It has given me some fabulous ideas on baking, cooking and crafts. I have completed a few crafts inspired by Pinterest. I’ve repainted our bedroom furniture for our bedroom remodel, I won’t post pics yet, until it is ALL completed, there is still painting, artwork and staining my bed to be done. I also attempted to make a bow holder for all Brynn’s hair clips. It turned out super cute, I’ll post pics and a blog later. I want to get on to the YUMMY stuff J

Last week for Nurse’s week on our fabulous floor we had a different theme each day and on Thursday we had a bake-off! Right up my alley. We have some amazingly talented bakers on our floor and everyone brought amazing stuff. I did not win L But, that’s ok, I’ll survive. For the bake-off I decided to make salted caramel cupcakes. I am a bit obsessed with salted caramel anything, the sweet and salty flavor is amazing. So I searched and searched Pinterest for a recipe that was doable. I found one that sounded great. It was a lot of work and in the future I would make a few changes. I’ll post them below after the recipe and pics.

The recipe is from 52 Kitchen Adventures

http://www.52kitchenadventures.com/2011/09/20/salted-caramel-cupcakes/

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

Makes 15 cupcakes

Brown Sugar Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 °F. Line muffin tin with paper or foil liners.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each until fully incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with 1/2 of the buttermilk, stirring after each until everything is combined.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tin until each liner is 3/4 full. Bake for around 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Filling

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons salted butter, cubed
• 
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

In a medium saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat, whisking as it melts. When it turns a deep amber color, add the butter and stir until it is melted. Add the heavy cream and whisk until the caramel is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

Using a large pastry tip or a paring knife, cut a small round piece out of the top of each cupcake. Pour in around 1-2 teaspoons of caramel.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 stick salted butter
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Fleur de sel for sprinkling (optional)

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water and cook over medium-high heat. Boil without stirring until it turns a deep amber color. Remove from heat and slowly pour in cream and vanilla, whisking until it is very smooth. Let cool for around 20 minutes, until it’s just barely warm and still pourable.

Meanwhile, beat butter and salt together until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat until thoroughly combined. Pour in the cooled caramel and beat on medium-high speed until light and airy (around 2 minutes). Spread or pipe onto filled cupcakes (if frosting is too runny, the caramel was too warm when added – refrigerate for around 15-20 minutes until frosting is stiffer). Sprinkle each cupcake with a small pinch of fleur de sel.

***My notes:

The cupcake batter was thick, not sure if it was supposed to be that way or not, it reminded me of pancake batter, so don’t freak out like I did, and it only made about 15 cupcakes. Also, I would double the batch of caramel filling and use half of it to add to the buttercream icing rather than how the buttercream recipe calls for making the caramel. In my opinion the caramel for the filling tasted much more flavorful than the buttercream recipe caramel. I think the icing lacked a big caramel taste and it would have been much better with more caramel flavor. But that’s just my opinion J

Hope you enjoy!

Hot Ham and Cheese Sammies

I made these little gems for the first time about a year ago for a get together with friends and I think that I gave the recipe to about 5 people. Since then, every time I make them I am asked for the recipe. These seriously are dangerously yummy. I can't help eating them. Phil requests these for dinner occasionally and they are fabulous left over too! I highly recommend making these for any gathering you may have, and I swear you will not be able to leave without giving out the recipe. If someone doesn't like these then I seriously question their taste buds :) The best part is they are super easy to make and cook time is not that long either, can't beat that!

Hot Ham and Cheese Sammies
recipe via Tasty kitchen

1 package Kings Hawaiian Rolls
3/4 stick of butter
1/2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1/2 Tbsp.  Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds ( I omit these)
12 slices deli ham
12 slices swiss cheese

Directions:

melt butter in a saucepan, then add the brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and poppy seeds.
Slice all the rolls in half. Brush the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with some of the glaze mixture. Brush the inside of each roll with glaze, place bottoms of rolls in pan, top with a slice of ham (folded to fit) and slice of cheese. If the slices of cheese are large I cut them into 1/4's. I place 1/4 under ham and 1/4 on top of ham so I use only one slice for 2 rolls. Place tops on the sandwiches, brush remaining glaze on tops of rolls or drizzle over the rolls.
Cover with foil and bake @ 350 for about 25 minutes.  Serve warm~

Enjoy!

Cold Weather, Hot Soup!

During the winter I love to make soup, it just warms you up. I make only a few soups so I decided I needed to try to expand my horizons. One of my favorite soups is 54th Street's Baked Potato Soup. It's so very creamy and yummy. I wanted to try and duplicate it. I think the recipe I found was perfect. It made a large pot and we were heading over to our neighbors that evening to let the kids play so I took it over with us and we all had it for dinner. Everyone loved it (at least that's what they told me!) and I even had enough to take over to my moms house the next day for her and I to have for lunch. I have to say it was pretty darn good, I think even better than 54th Street's soup :) So if you love Baked Potato Soup you need to try this!

Baked Potato Soup

6 sliced bacon
1 C. chopped onion (I used about half)
2/3 C. flour
6 C. Chicken broth
4 C. diced potato ( I left skins on, but would be great without)
2 C. milk
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. minced garlic ( I used about 2-3 cloves, but I love garlic)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Shredded cheese and green onion for garnish

Directions:
Cut bacon into small pieces. Cook bacon and onion over medium heat until cooked through (bacon will not be crispy, just needs to be cooked through). Remove onion and bacon from pan. Leave grease, add flour and whisk. Slowly add chicken broth and continue whisking. Mixture will be thick at first but as you add the broth it will thin out. After broth is mixed well, add milk, potato, salt, garlic, bacon and onion. Let soup simmer and cook potatoes through. If you like thicker soup, once potatoes are cooked use a potato masher and mash a few times in the soup, leaving some potato chunks. Garnish with shredded cheese and green onions.

Enjoy!