Red Potatoes with Dill Sauce

(by cravingsandravings.blogspot.com)
Ingredients
3 pounds red potatoes
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried dill weed, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons sea salt for cooking potatoes

Directions
Wash potatoes and cut away any bad spots on them. Slice into wedges or cut into large cubes. Rinse well after cutting.

Cover potatoes with cold water and add salt. Bring to a boil and cook for about 12 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork.

While potatoes are cooking, melt butter or margarine in the microwave and add seasonings. Mix well, let sit for a few minutes and taste. Adjust seasonings as desired. I don't add any salt until after I mix the butter with the potatoes and taste. The potatoes will absorb salt while cooking, so keep that in mind!

When potatoes are done, drain and set back over the turned off burner for a minute. That will let them dry out as remaining water cooks off. Add butter mixture, mix gently, taste and adjust as needed. There is no going wrong with this dish -- add more butter if you want it, add more pepper. Serve immediately!

Leftovers, if there are any, are wonderful browned and scrambled with eggs.

Steak Marinade

Tonight we are having steak, red potatoes, broccoli, and spinach salad for our New Years Dinner... I am going all out with the red meat ;) So I wanted to post the marinade I will be using!
Happy New Year!!!

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, and garlic in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Let marinade for a minimum of 2 hours.

Banana Bread

I had some over ripe bananas so I looked up this recipe on FoodNetwork.com and decided to give it a go! It will be a nice "healthy" dessert for our home-cooked fancy New Years Steak dinner tonight! Happy New Year!

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Taking down the Tree

Today, Bentley and I tackled "taking down the Christmas Tree"... whew... what a project! Why does it always seem easier to "make a mess" then clean it up?!?! haha

Well of course I stopped to have some fun, at Bentley's expense :) Doesn't he look cute though!

Ruffle Tree Skirt

Now, we bought the tree (Craigslist baby!), I had the ornaments (my mom gifted us ornaments every year since birth!), had the stockings already (my mom had my husband's made to look like mine and gifted it to him last year... and Bentley got his from the in-laws! Bentley is spoiled!), and we bought some awesome led lights from Costco (love that place!). I even found a star in my ornament stash for the top of the tree! So what was left? How about a tree skirt :) I found this awesome site that had a how-to on making a no-sew ruffle tree skirt.

HGTV How to Make a No-Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt


I tried it out and this picture is of my new tree skirt! After MANY burnt fingers on the glue gun (I need to get a better glue gun)... the result was nice! It wasn't my best work, but the project was very forgiving on exact measurements. I will buy a tree skirt one day, but this project didnt cost me (I used what I had), wasn't too time consuming, and I could make it as big/ thick as I wanted... which was great because our tree is really FAT! hehe

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Our Christmas card this year, 2011

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

This is a recipe we found on Better Homes & Gardens and every one ranted and raved about this being the BEST Christmas cookie of 2011, so we tried it!

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread

Makes: 60 servings
Prep: 40 mins
Bake: 325°F 10 minsper batch
Stand: 30 mins

Ingredients
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter
12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 drops red food coloring (optional)
2 teaspoons shortening
White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
5. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 60.

Storage: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

nutrition facts (White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread)
Servings Per Recipe 60, Calories 87, Protein (gm) 1, Carbohydrate (gm) 9, Fat, total (gm) 5, Cholesterol (mg) 9, Saturated fat (gm) 3, Vitamin A (IU) 97, Sodium (mg) 28, Calcium (DV %) 10, Iron (DV %) 0, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet



Our review? They were a different mix to our bunches of cookies. It is definitely a thicker shortbread cookies, so the white chocolate is necessary. I liked the cherry taste, but some others didn't. My only problem was in the dipping of the cookies in the white chocolate: the chocolate was too runny and would need to harden some before I did the sprinkles, but even after that, the cookies didn't fully harden till HOURS later. We had NO room in the freezer or fridge... so they just stayed out for a long time. They may make it into the yearly cookies bunch, or may not. We shall see how others feel about it next year :)

Christmas Cookies!

A HUGE tradition for my family has always been making tons and tons of Christmas Cookies! We don't make a lot of cookies through the year, especially since they seem to get eaten too quickly! So, when we have an arsenal of cooks in the kitchen, we make a TON and share them with family and friends and enjoy them for days on end!

Now, I can't share ALL my family's cookie recipes... some need to be secrets so that people will come to our annual Christmas Eve Party craving cookies! But I did take a picture of the ones we made! I missed taking a picture of a few, but you will get the idea ;)


My favorites! White Chocolate, Macadamia, Dried Cherries


These were a new recipe for us! They are Italian Anise Cookies


Another favorite: Scandinavian Almond Cookies


Peanut Butter Kisses


Wreath cookies


Chocolate Crinkle Cookies


New this year: White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread


My husband and my brother decorating the TONS of gingerbread cookies! It was my husband's first time decorating gingerbread cookies and he did an AMAZING job!


Gingerbread with royal icing

Our First Christmas Indoor Decoration!

Merry Christmas!

This was our first Christmas together as husband and wife, and definitely was our first Christmas season in our own home! Since Thanksgiving, the decorations have been proudly up and have created such a warm and loving glow in our home. I hope you enjoy!


Our first Christmas tree! We bought this 8 ft beauty for $20 on Craigslist! SCORE! And the ornaments are from my mom; Every year since I was born, she got us an ornament so that when we left home and had our own tree, it wouldn't be bare! It's one of my favorite traditions from my mom ♥ And boy was our tree full of ornaments!


We have this overhang above our kitchen sink, and this is how I first decorated it.


Then I wanted the wreath outside, so this is how it is NOW decorated! I loved getting Christmas cards in the mail addressed to Mr and Mrs L! yay! And my decor is complete with my Nutcracker collection up above! I have loved the nutcracker ballet since I was 5 and my mom would take me every year, as our mommy-daughter date ♥


Another view of the tree, with Bentley in his "cone of shame"! Poor Bentley, it has been a rough year for our pup.


I LOVE our WillowTree nativity scene. It's so natural rustic and romantic. My mother gave them to us for Christmas for the past two years and it means so much to me. Especially since decorating the nativity scene with my mom was a tradition when I was younger.

Our First Christmas Lights Decoration!

Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures from our first home, all decorated for the holidays! Enjoy!

Our porch! With red sparkle snowflakes hanging, bright multi colored lights, garland, snoopy, Holly pillows, and pathetic tree!


A closer view of the porch with the Holly pillows, and a lit up Santa Snoopy on his dog house! I was going for the whole Charlie Brown Christmas theme if you couldn't tell!


Charlie Brown's "pathetic" tree! My husband loves this detail on our porch :)

Holly Pillows

I wanted to dress up the Adirondacks chairs we have outside on our porch, and so I decided to make Holly Pillows!

I simply created the pillow cases out of left over beige fabric. Sewed up three of the four sides.
Then I cut green holly leaves and red circles out of felt. I didn't want them to be the same size, I wanted them to look artsy and handmade.
Then I hot glued the felt on to the cases (I could have sewn them on, but I wanted instant gratification in a finished quickly project! hehe).
Then just stuffed the cases with my pillows (which already had permanent cases on them, so these Holly Pillows were just cover up solutions!). Then I hot glued the cases shut!

Now obviously, these aren't permanent solutions. If they were, I would sew more and use outdoor fabric. But considering the cost ($0! since I had every thing already!), and the time (probably about 15 min total!), I think they turned out beautifully and I am happy! yay!

Black Friday FREE ornament

I decided to make a "black friday" run when I saw that World Market was giving away a FREE ornament with a FREE movie ticket pass! It was a promo for the up and coming The Adventures of Tintin movie. On Sunday, they were giving out the cute dog (Snowy is his name) ornament (which reminded me of my own Bentley pup) so I just HAD to get it! My brother and I raced over to World Market bright and early, and scored two ornaments and two movies tickets! yay!

Being the tricky craft-er I am... I decided to MAKE The Adventures of Tintin pup into my very own Bentley pup! And I think it was appropriate since this year has been a rough year for Bentley; it would be a good memento of the miracles he has been given from healing his 80% scratched cornea to getting rid of Cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) and 3 infections.


Here's how it turned out!
It went from this:



to... this!

Try this: Wedding Photo Book

Before we were even married, I knew what I was going to give our parents and grandparents for Christmas this year. Call me crazy, but when you plan your own wedding, you get "planning for the future" ideas like this! So I decided to make a photo book out of our wedding pictures as gifts! Photo BOOKS, not photo albums. That's where a company has a program where you download and organize all your pictures, then they print and bind them on a hard cover book, to make your photos look like a picture book! It looks amazing and so professional!

So here's how I made this work: During the summer, I found LivingSocial coupons for this company called MyPublisher where they were offering half off a book, PLUS added pages to your book! Which was awesome because three books can add up quick, and I had SOOOO many pictures from the wedding (over 800!) so the additional pages would be put to good use!
The great thing about LivingSocial is that the coupons didn't expire till 2012 (so PLENTY of time!) and I could buy three coupons and use them each for the discount! I also trust LivingSocial because I have had some problems with vendors and LivingSocial has backed me up with full refunds or credits! They know how to do business right!
So MyPublisher requires you to download their photo book software (free!) and then you download the photos you will use on to that program. Then... the rest is up to you! Being as creative or basic as you want, they allow you to tweak the photos a bit, re-size, write words, and give you tons of options when it comes to printing. They also let you know while you editing if that photo will looks it's best, or if it needs to have something done to it. It's strange how the photo can look great on your computer but won't print well... so thank goodness they have that! I also think MyPublisher has a refund policy, so if they are at fault for printing, or your unhappy with their work (mind you... your responsibility for editing comes in to play too) they will redo the book free of charge. Good business. Good accountability!

Of course my creative "genius" made me almost wait till last minute to put the finishing editing touches on the photo books... but ordering was a piece of cake, and although they said they were so busy from the holidays that orders could be taking the maximum estimated delivery time... mine came EARLIER than predicted! Way to deliver!

The Results? LOVE!!!!!!!!!!! They were beautiful and every one enjoyed them! And now that I have seen them, I am jealous and want to order one for my self soon! Good thing MyPublisher keeps your books always on file! ;) I will definitely be using them again! They are a little pricey, but they always have sales and deals and the quality is AMAZING!

Click here to see our Photobook of our Wedding~

Flower Painting for the Kitchen

This Christmas, my mother-in-law wanted a painting with her favorite bible verse on it: "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15.

Of course I said I would do it and I definitely racked my brain on this one. I seem to have problems on "commissioned" art because I get caught up in wanting it to be "perfect" and what the person wants (I paint for others to appreciate I guess). And I really get stuck in creativity when the person says "do what ever you want". Yikes, the pressure is on! Not only do I have to create the "perfect" piece, but I have NO perimeters! Some people love total freedom, but I guess I loved structured creativity. I love to please others, and if I can do that through my creativity, then win win! But I need to know what is wanted.

So this piece was inspired by colors that are in her back splash tile work, and a busy fabric I found that had all these partitioned flowers. I picked a few of the flowers from the fabric and mimic-ed them on a bigger scale to create this (with the quote in the middle):








The real kicker to this project (aside from my own problems with painting for others! haha) is the piece had to fit in an irregular spot in the kitchen. Luckily, my father-in-law has oodles of tools and wood, so he made a base for me and I bought some heavier fabric (which I ended up doubling on it's self to prevent bleeding, just in case... and making it stronger still) then we staple gunned it on. My husband created a cardboard backing on each framing opening, to prevent sagging. A family affair for sure! But I was pleased at the results and I think my mother-in-law enjoyed it too!

Maple Sesame Salmon Fillets

My husband and I bought a bunch of Salmon patties from Costco and they have really proven time and time again as a great versatile meal. I have prepared them many different ways, not just as "salmon burgers" and they have been tasty! A little dry sometimes... but they take any flavor well, and are a great alternative to our usual, chicken.
This recipe is for "fillets" but I had the ingredients (except for the seeds... I didn't want to splurge on those yet...) so I thought I would try it on our patties! My husband said they were a winner and they get crispy edges which as always a YUM!

Maple Sesame Salmon Fillets

Salmon or trout fillets (enough for 4 to 6 people)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use reduced sodium)
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (or hot sauce of your choice)

Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Mix all the ingredients except the salmon and the sesame seeds. You can either use a bowl or a ziptop bag. Place the salmon in the marinade and let rest, in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

Since the marinade is sweet, I usually line a baking sheet with aluminum paper, it makes clean up much easier. Preheat your broiler and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Place the salmon fillets on the baking sheet and broil for about 10 minutes. If you like, you can baste the fish with the marinade once or twice during cooking. To see if the salmon is ready, use a fork to flake the fillets and check if they are cooked through. You'll know that the fish is cooked when its flesh turns opaque. You might need to cook the salmon a little longer, depending on the size of your fillets.

Garnish with sesame seeds and serve with a side of rice and veggies of your choice.

Hot Sweet Potatoes

I know sweet potatoes are healthier than regular potatoes, if the sweet potatoes aren't COVERED in sugar and butter :) I found this recipe for a Spicy Sweet potato and had to try it out! I had trouble with my ingredient substitutions (I didnt have the garlic and onion powder, so I used fresh... which were to wet for the dry rub... So I added some water and oil to make it more of a marinade, which then made the flavors not as spicy and strong BUT they still tasted awesome!). Also, I didn't do the smashing part, because I just wanted to try slices, but next time I will! Hopefully making crispier edges!
With all that said, this was a great idea and a great recipe! Instead of giving you my take, I think the original was better, so I will just write that recipe (and I will be following it for next time!).

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
1 & 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon New Mexico chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic

Directions:
Put 1/2 teaspoon of salt in 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and set the timer for 10 minutes – time from when you put the potatoes in, not from when the water starts to boil.
These ended up taking about 12 minutes, though I pulled out a couple that were just a touch thinner a couple minutes sooner than that. You want them to be somewhat soft but not cooked through. Let them cool off for 10 or 15 minutes – they will hold together a little better for the next step.

Blend the spices together really well with a fork, making to sure to get the sugar completely incorporated. Then I added about ten coarse grinds of black pepper and mixed that in too.

Being careful not to squash them too much, flatten each sweet potato disk slightly. I did this right on the parchment paper on my baking sheet, and used a small bowl with a clear bottom, so I could see what I was doing. The potato stuck to the bowl each time, but I just carefully slip a spatula in there and they came right off and stayed together nicely. If they had come apart on me at all, I’d have just pressed them back into a circle on the pan. I drizzled each of them with a mixture of two tablespoon melted butted and two tablespoons olive oil and then sprinkled each one with the spice mixture, pressing it lightly on the surface. I carefully turned them over and coated the other side with the butter/oil and the spices.

This is my version, with the marinade and sliced sweet potatoes.

I roasted them in the oven, set at 375º for about 15 minutes, turned them over and roasted them another 10 minutes, till they had a nice crust on both sides from the caramelization of the sugar and spices.
If I were using fresher potatoes – and normally I would be, since it is unusual for them to sit around very long here – I would skip the parboil and begin roasting them right on the baking sheet from the start, and then when they got soft enough to flatten I would proceed with the rest of the steps. You actually don’t have to flatten them at all of course, but it does provide more surface area and some ruffly sort of edges for getting more crunch on them – worth the bother in my opinion.


These really tasted good and my husband wants me to make them again, yay! I just wish it had MORE flavor, which could have been accomplished with the rub version, or soaking the potatoes longer (maybe).

Monkey Muffins

My brother came to visit this week and since he has to work on Christmas, we decided to have our own lil early Christmas celebration! So we made hot cocoa, stayed in our PJs and opened presents around the tree... while our breakfast dessert cooked in the oven!
I wanted to do something simple, yet traditional and found this easy recipe for Monkey Muffins! It's like monkey bread... but bite sized!!!!!!

Monkey Muffins

Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Cook Time: 15 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:

Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds)
Butter
Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon.

Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.



Scoop out with a spoon and serve to hungry humans.

Potato Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
4 potatoes, approx. 2 lb., peeled and cut in chunks
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cubed
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Directions:
In saucepan of boiling salted water, cook potatoes, covered, for 15 minutes or until tender; drain and mash with 1/2 cup milk, 1 tbsp butter and half each of the salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, in saucepan, melt remaining butter over medium heat; cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until softened. Add flour; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in remaining milk, salt and pepper, mustard, lemon juice and thyme; cook, whisking often, for 10 minutes or until thickened.
Add turkey and vegetables; cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Pour into 8-in. casserole dish. Spread potatoes over top; sprinkle with Parmesan. Broil for 2 minutes or until golden.


I made this and it was a great alternative to pastry on the pot pie; It made it more of a Sheppard's pie really. I can't find the picture I took of it, but it was really good and worth making! My Husband LOVED it too!

Fried Rice

We do a lot of versions of Asian foods in our home; I like to kid that we were both probably raised in Asia at some point in our lives and didn't know it! Boy, do we love Asian flavors :) So here is my go to recipe for a quick and easy fried rice, which is awesome if you have left over rice, and need a paring to that awesome asian chicken dish you just slaved over ;)
Fried Rice

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked white rice
3 tbs sesame oil
1 cup frozen vegetables (thawed)
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions:
On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated! **You could really play around with this rice too! Try adding some diced ham, or green onion :) Yum!

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

Ingredients

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

This was SOOOO easy to make and so delicious! My husband thinks I could open a restaurant with this! Now I don't know about that... but this meal was gone quick and tasted YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a picture some where of it, I will post when I can!

Homemade Italian Dressing

I used this recipe to make the dressing for the BBQ chicken, since I didn't have any Italian dressing on hand! It was great and easy and would also be great in a salad ;)

Ingredients
1 C. vegetable oil
1/2 C. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. crushed chili pepper
1/2 tsp. minced garlic

Directions
Mix all ingredients together well. Store in an airtight bottle or jar. Chill several hours before serving. Shake well before serving.

Homemade Italian Dressing will stay fresh in your refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Seared Chicken Breasts with Lemon Herb Pan Sauce

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Fresh Thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Peel, sliced into thin strips
2 medium size Garlic Cloves, Pressed {through garlic press} or minced
3-4 tablespoons of Butter
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Halves {brought to room temp}
1/4-1/2 cup of good Chicken Stock

Directions:
In a small bowl toss together the chopped parsley, thyme, garlic and sliced lemon peel.

Season the chicken with kosher salt and black pepper.

In a large 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat cook chicken in butter for about 6 minutes or until browned, turning only once in between. Transfer to plate.

Remove the skillet off of the heat; add in the stock and scraping up the brown bits. Add in 3/4 of the lemon/herb mixture. Return back to the heat and bring to a simmer, stirring. Return the chicken back to the skillet, turn to coat, simmer covered for about 6-8 more minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Serve with pan sauce and garnish with remaining herb/lemon mixture if desired.

Puppy Chow

This is another great recipe for a home-made snack/dessert for guests! Most people know it as "puppy chow" and it is YUMMY! My secret? I double everything except the Chex (so double the yummy chocolate peanut butter stuff on every piece!) Want another secret? I stick them in the freezer for storage! It makes the pieces so refreshing when you bite into them... you must try!

Ingredients
9 cups Rice Chex®, Corn Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
(ps, 9 cups = about a whole regular size box)
2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions
1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated.

Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in the freezer.

When my husband and I had to go out of town without Bentley, we had a wonderful family take care of him. So I made a batch of Puppy Chow and gave each of the little girls that took care of Bentley, their own personal bag. With a Thank You note, of course!

And as a little joke to our good friend, I decorated the Dad's Puppy Chow bag... a little extra "girly"... He was such a good sport!

Cinnamon Sugared Pecans

This is a recipe I always have up my sleeve. It is Great for snack-y presents to friends and house guests! I especially like to use Georgia Pecans; It's a home-y present that tastes DELICIOUS!!!!!

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

2 egg whites
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon water
1 pound pecan halves
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a gallon sized freezer bag mix together the egg whites, vanilla extract, and water. In a separate gallon sized freezer bag mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add pecans to the bag with the egg white mixture. Seal the bag and shake around the pecans until they are evenly coated. Transfer the coated pecans to the bag with the sugar mixture.
Seal the bag and shake around until the pecans are evenly coated with the sugar mixture. Spread the pecans on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a medium pan over low heat, heat up the canned pumpkin puree, spices, and salt. Then, pour the mixture out into another bowl, and let it cool a bit before adding the condensed milk and eggs. Whisk together all in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into uncooked crust. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

By heating up the pumpkin mix first, you make a big difference in taste - Heating the pumpkin puree up takes out the "canned" taste of the pumpkin and melds the spices together nicely. This little change makes the pumpkin taste much fresher too!

Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
3 3/4 cups cubed white bread
1 pound ground turkey sausage
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1 cooked turkey liver, finely chopped
3/4 cup turkey stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Spread the white and whole wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver. Drizzle with turkey stock and melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

Easy Gravy

Ingredients:
1 quart of Trader Joe’s organic low sodium chicken broth
1 large onion, roughly chopped (next time, I will use 2 like she suggests in her recipe)
1/2 tsp of dried thyme (or a few good shakes of Fines Herbes seasoning)
2 tablespoons of Kerrygold unsalted butter (or pan drippings)
6-8 cloves of peeled garlic (I love garlic and that’s how many come pre-peeled in a little pack)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of coconut aminos
A splash of heavy cream (optional)

Directions:
I dumped the onions, garlic, broth, and thyme into a medium saucepan and brought it to a boil on high. Then, I lowered the heat to low and let it simmer for ~30 minutes or until the onions and garlic are really soft. At this point I tasted for seasonings and added salt, pepper, and coconut aminos.
Then, I poured everything into my Vitamix (most AWESOME blender ever), added 2 tablespoons of butter (or pan drippings), and blitzed everything until it was uniform. You can also add some heavy cream if you want a creamy gravy. Definitely, use 2 or more onions because my sauce was pretty thin. It was really tasty (even with pantry items) so I’m keeping a container in the fridge to ladle onto whatever other meats/veggies I eat the next few days.

Yarn Wreath

Before we ditch autumn to celebrate (my favorite!!) Christmas holiday, I wanted to share with you a simple craft: a Yarn Wreath. This was one that I found on www.pinterest.com and just HAD to try! It was a bit time consuming, but I liked the final product :)


I created my own foam wreath by buying some outdoor pipe insulation from Home Depot (cost about $4 with tax) and that gave me about 4 tubes to work with. I just took one, cut it a little, and duct taped it together. Then, you start the wrapping of string. This took forever in my opinion (you have to physically take the ball of yarn in and out of the wreath to wrap it), but if you just watch a movie or something, time flies by.


Once I wrapped the wreath 2 or 3 times fully around, then it was finally time to decorate. I found a site for making felt flowers, which I will post instructions later if I can find my pictures, and used them to decorate. I also bought a twig that had sequins on it, from Micheal's, for less than a dollar, to add some bling and a play on natural.


All in all, it was an inexpensive craft. Probably less than $10 total for ALL the supplies. It was a little time consuming, but I was very happy with the results.