Smart-Bottom Enterprises

Walnut and Dried Cherry Bars

2012-01-24T21:41:00.002-06:00

So we're going to be eating a little more healthful over here. We definitely weren't bad before, but I'm upping the ante this year. As in, I bought my first box of quinoa. I have no idea what to do with it quite yet, but it's there, in the pantry, staring at me every single day. That ought to count for something.

Anyway. If you're looking for a super sweet cookie bar, feel free to walk away now. This is not that type of bar.

This kind of bar is a cross between a chewy, nutty granola bar and a sweet and tart and dense breakfast bar. They definitely have a healthful vibe, but Oh My Yuminess, I love them! The original recipe is from Ellie Krieger, it's over here, but I changed it up a bit, and I also added mini chocolate chips, and extra nuts, and extra fruit preserves, sooooo... you know they're gonna be scrumptious! To compensate for adding all that extra not-perfectly-good-for-you-stuff, I omitted the oil she uses and added more applesauce, so I'm pretty sure it all evens out. Yep. Pretty sure.

I really like the recipe in general because you can totally make it your own - choose your dried fruit, your nut, your all-fruit spread - no matter what, it's going to be great!

Oh, I usually double the recipe below because they go fast in our house! My husband and I can't stop eating them. And they are really delicious with a hot cup of tea.

Walnut and Dried Cherry Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup oats (quick-cooking or regular)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (or you can skip it and add 1/4 cup more whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup if you run out like I sometimes do)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg, beaten

1 egg white (when I double the recipe, I just use 3 whole eggs total and it works out fine)

1 cup chopped dried tart cherries (or any other dried fruit)

1 cup chopped walnuts (or any other nut)

1 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Cooking Spray

1 cup "all-fruit" apricot preserves (or any other preserves)

Make It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the vanilla, honey, applesauce, and eggs. Stir into the oatmeal mixture until well combined. Add the cherries and walnuts and chocolate chips.

Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes.

Put the preserves in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as the bars come out of the oven, brush with the preserves. Cool completely and cut into squares or bars.

Happy and Healthy Eating!

3 Things

2012-01-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

1. New Blog Header

Did you notice? Did ya? Did ya? I did it all by myself!!! I used this awesome tutorial (just liked I used to make this header) and it was really easy! I find myself checking my blog just to look at its beauty and happy colorfulness.

2. Rainbow Cake

Do you remember when I first made a Rainbow Cake and it totally rocked it out?

The holiday season is crazy for everyone, of course, but it's a little extra crazy for us because Peyton's birthday is December 17th (he turned 8) and Ella's birthday is January 9th (she turned 6). Oh, and our wedding anniversary is December 15th (we made it 10 years!), but that's beside the point.

The point being: Rainbow Cakes are awesome!

Usually we do cupcakes for our birthday parties because they're so easy, but ever since The Rainbow Cake came into our lives, things have changed for the better. Peyton wanted a rainbow cake for his party, Ella wanted a rainbow cake for her party, and we were Rainbow Caking it up all over the place this winter!

The best part ever is when you cut into the otherwise-normal-looking-cake and suddenly everyone realizes that there's something special going on in there. Oh man! Kids are amazed, parents are amazed, it's all kinds of awesome. And I loved watching my kids bask in the glory when their friends saw the uniqueness of the cakes. Peyton and Ella LIT UP when they got to tell everyone how they picked their own colors. I loved that!

But really, what I wanted to do here was to peer pressure you into making a Rainbow Cake of your own. And this is why: No matter how imperfect your Rainbow Cake is, people will still think you are a Rainbow Caking Rockstar.

Example 1 - My first Rainbow Cake - Didn't even have enough frosting to cover all the sides. See all that side-cake sticking out? Didn't matter - Rockstar! (When I said side-cake did you think of side-boob? Admit it - you totally did!)

Example 2 - Peyton's Rainbow Cake:

Not even a real Rainbow Cake. He wanted blue and green stripes. Look at how uneven the frosting layers are - fail! Doesn't matter - as soon as the party kids saw the inside...

Rockstar!

You'll notice these pictures are a little messier than my First Rainbow Cake. It's one thing to carefully slice a cake when you're at home. You can make your family wait on the sidelines for five minutes while you get a good photo. It's a completely different situation when bunches of loud and crazy party kids are sitting around a table at a bowling alley or Chuck E. Cheese's waiting impatiently for their fair share of sugar intake.

Example 3 - Ella's Rainbow Cake

She chose her colors, too, and she wanted them in a very specific order. Look at that huge layer of frosting in between the purple and blue layers - fail! I didn't actually cut this one, the host from our Chuck E. Cheese party did. As soon as she cut into it, she said, "Whoa! Is this rainbow striped!?! Cool!" And you know she cuts into all sorts of homemade cakes for a living, soooo...

Rockstar!

What I'm saying is this: I'm not a baker, I've made lots and lots of Rainbow Cake mistakes, but it doesn't matter!

So, go! Go forth and make a Rainbow Cake! If I can do it - ANYONE CAN DO IT!

3. Family Portrait

Yesterday, I gave Ella a canvas, some paint, and paintbrushes. She grabbed some paper craft hearts that I was working on and some glue. Then she disappeared for a while to create her masterpiece.

She's obviously very talented - I mean, C'MON with the mixed media fantasticalness! - but just in case you have a hard time recognizing us, from left to right we have: Peyton, Ella, Mommy, and Daddy.

Seriously, I love it so much!!! Drawing with actual paintbrushes rather than markers or crayons is difficult - I think it's pretty impressive for a just-turned-6-year-old!

I framed it and put it on our Valentine's Day mantel and I'm going to keep it forever and ever.

Happy Valentine's Day decorating!

Spring Canvas - Valentine's Day Style

2012-01-10T01:24:00.000-06:00

So when I took down our Christmas decorations, it was all house-naked up in here. Especially the mantel. Sad, naked, naked, mantel.

But! I had an idea that I wanted to paint a canvas that I could use as a simple backdrop for some Valentine's Day and Easter decorations, soooooo.....

I armed myself with a Michael's coupon and headed on over to my home away from home. I picked out a large 24 x 30 inch canvas, brought it home, and then proceeded to get completely overwhelmed by the blankness of the thing. It's what I do. Every. Single. Time.

Then I put my big girl panties on.

And then I did a little measuring and taping.

And then I painted.

And then I moved the tape and painted some more.

I kept moving the tape and painting. Each block needed two or three coats of paint. And, because I'm me, I changed the color just a little bit every time I added more paint. So, no, it's not the picture quality changing the color. That would be me. And then I wasn't paying enough attention and I messed up the taping. *sigh* Might as well show you.

Not what I wanted at all! Soooo... I fixed it. And then I spent another hour or three going over every straight line with a teeny tiny paint brush and driving myself insane because no matter how hard I try, painter's tape and I are not best friends. At best, we tolerate each other's existence. But I finally beat the painter's tape lines and hung that sucker up.

It does need a frame. I'm looking! I'm looking! I promise! As soon as I find a good one, I'll let you know.

I painted some old bottles and Dollar Tree vases using this extra fancy technique. It did take much more time than spray painting them, but I love the extra gloss the glass provides because the paint is on the inside. And then I put a cute little heart sticker on the little bottles just because I could.

I KNOW! The flowers! I usually don't have this many fake flowers going on, but I can't help it - I think they're perfect for spring! If I had a garden, maybe I'd use the real thing, but for now... I LOVE these!

Look how ugly this Estate Sale find used to be before I saved it. What do people keep inside such vessels? I have no idea.

And look at it now! It's all growns up! Are you dying to know what I keep inside it? Lip balm. Because I stash lip balm in every room of my house. I'm addicted. Now you know my secret. My mantel holds flowers, painted vases, and lip balm.

Remember I said I wanted to use the canvas as a backdrop, right? I taped some jute to the back and clothes-pinned on some simple hearts I cut out of scrapbook paper to see if I liked the general look of it.

And I did! I liked it! So I took the hearts down and fancied them up a bit. Sparkle makes everything better.

Now those are some serious Valentine's Day hearts!

Happy Spring!

Creamy Avocado and White Bean Wrap

2012-01-01T19:00:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe floating around on pinterest. I'm all about healthy eating if it tastes good. Well! I tried it, I loved it, I made a couple changes for practicality's sake, and I loved it even more!

Look at it! Doesn't it just look so healthy and so delicious!?!

Creamy Avocado and White Bean Wrap

Ingredients:

6 T cider vinegar

3 T canola oil

1 t salt

1 t pepper

4 cups shredded red cabbage

2 15-ounce cans white beans, rinsed

1-3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 lime

4 medium carrots, shredded

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 ripe avocados, sliced

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 red onion, chopped

4-6 large wraps

A note about the ingredients:

I've made the red cabbage slaw directly from the recipe, but I've also used the slaw from this Red Cabbage Salad recipe. The wraps turned out equally delicious both ways, so I'm going to guess that you can use any vinegar-y slaw that you like.

I love the flavor and spice of chipotle chiles, but feel free to skip them if you adamantly dislike spice.

Same with the cilantro. I know, I know! Haters gonna hate.

If you look at Eating Well's recipe, you'll see how I changed some stuff around. I like to prep the ingredients of the wraps, store them in separate containers, and stick everything - except the avocado - in the fridge for when I need an easy lunch. That's why the avocado is separate in my version - because, no matter what, that avocado and bean mixture of theirs is going to be turning colors the next day. If you have everything all prepped, then you can slice up the avocado at the last minute and it'll still be green.

I used spinach herb wraps for these, but any wraps - or even large tortillas - will work just fine.

How many wraps it's going to make depends on how much of the deliciousness you stuff into your wrap. I like my wraps falling-apart-because-they're-so-stuffed size, but it's up to you. :)

Make it:

Whisk vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add cabbage and toss to combine. You can even do this step a day or two in advance. The longer it sits - the better it gets!

Pulse beans, chipotle chiles, and juice of lime in a food processor until slightly mashed.

To assemble the wraps, spread about 1/2 cup of the bean mixture onto wrap. Add as much of the remaining ingredients as you like - carrots, cilantro, avocado, cheese, and red onion. Roll up, cut in half, enjoy!

Happy and Healthy Eating!

Christmas Ornament Wreath

2011-12-25T01:27:00.003-06:00

Yes, I've seen the ornament wreaths around on the world wide web. Here and there and everywhere. They were kind of calling my name. So....

I decided this would be The Year Of The Wreath.

The wire hanger kind of wreaths are fine, but I wanted a really big wreath. I thought a nice styrofoam circle frame would work nicely. But when I went to Michael's, they were out! You've got some nerve, Michael's. SOME NERVE I SAY. And here's something about me. I have no patience when it comes to crafting. I will not be going to another Michael's, or JoAnn's, or anywhere else, and I will not be waiting until they have them another day. I want an Oompa Loompa NOW!

They did have this 18" floral wire wreath frame for less than 3 bucks. Sold! I took it home, gathered my balls - Ha Ha! balls. - and set to glue gunning all over the place. First like this:

And then like this:

And then I glue gunned on some wide silver garland I had bought to cover up the wire. I really didn't want anyone to be able to peer through the balls and see some unsightly wire. Because I have class, damn it. Balls.

See? Like this:

I glue gunned and I glue gunned...

I did it all while I watched TV. It was kind of fun, actually. SO colorful and sparkly!

After I had used up all the big balls, I started in with the littles:

Back view:

And when it was finished, I hung it up on my boring standard-colored door. And it was beautiful.

But I was worried the balls might fade in the sunlight - it's happened to me before with another project - so I decided to move it indoors. I didn't spend two-plus hours and a hundred gazillion balls to have to make a new one every year. No siree!

So, I snapped a quick picture of it on my front door, brought it inside and hung it above my mantel, called my crafting confidant Ali, and declared WITH CONVICTION I was done with all my crafting for the season. DONE! And I was glad to say it. Glad to be able to focus on Christmas and other kinds of fun stuff.

AND THE CRAFTING GODS HEARD ME. AND THEY WERE VENGEFUL.

Because in the middle of the night I heard CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

And I didn't even need to get out of bed to know that my last crafting project of the season was not done with me yet. Huge chunks of balls had fallen off that stupid wreath.

Darn you crafting gods!

I don't know all the logistics of the situation, but here's what I do know - I had to dismember the entire thing, peel off glue from each and every ball, and start all over. I had used the shatter-proof balls, thank goodness, but now bunches of the balls had bald spots on them from where the cheap paint and glitter had come off with the glue. It was like a giant puzzle reassembling that thing to make sure not too many of the bald spots showed. The first go around was crafting fun, this go around was a huge crafting nuisance.

But this time I wasn't messing around. I used an entire tube of E6000 on that sucker. Take that, Wreath! I may have just killed a million brain cells by way of E6000, the most toxic glue in all the land, but I HAVE CONQUERED YOU!

Look at you, Wreath, sitting there all beautiful and colorful and sparkly and acting like you weren't a complete pain in the butt.

You're lucky you were worth it.

So worth it, in fact, that you earned yourself a sparkly, silvery ribbon.

Oh, Fancy Wreath, I can't be mad at you, you are too beautiful!

And...

I'm done.

That's right. I said it.

Hear that, Crafting Gods? DO YA?

Anyway....

Merry Christmas, my friends!

Epsom Salt Snow - Part 2

2011-12-17T01:02:00.000-06:00

So last post I told you about how I made a bunch of these snowy candle holders with my new favorite snow substitute.

AND THEN!!! I got some of my favorite candlesticks from The Dollar Tree. I also grabbed a taller candlestick that I had already glued to a cylinder vase. I covered the top in a piece of plastic tablecloth that I cut to (hopefully) look like snow drifts when all was said and done.

I spray painted them all white in my personal paint booth. Yes. It is a cardboard box. I'm so fancy!!!

Wintery white!

I coated the candlesticks with a nice layer of Mod Podge. And then I covered those suckers with Espom salt. I'm not gonna lie, after it all dries, the salt falls off like crazy if you touch it. It even falls off a little if you glance in its general direction. It's totally worth it to me, because it's so pretty.

Then I attached some pretty Dollar Tree vases to the candlesticks with Gorilla Glue, just like I did here.

Filled with big colorful jingle bells...

And sparkly garland....

And, hey! That one does kind of look like it's covered in snow drifts!

Way to rock it out, Epsom salt.

Epsom Salt Snow - Part 1

2011-12-10T22:20:00.001-06:00

So I never knew that Epsom Salt looked like snow. Did you?

I actually had no idea what it looked like at all because I had never seen it before. But you learn something new every day. Especially when you're cruising around the enchanting world of pinterest.

Epsom Salt, Epsom Salt, Epsom Salt! I want to do stuff with it!

And it turns out that Epsom salt is super cheap. I bought a big bag of it for less than four bucks. That is definitely the kind of crafting supply I can appreciate.

So I got a Ball jar.

I hot glued three different layers of burlap/ribbon/ribbon around it.

I tied on a couple jingle bells.

And I filled it with Epsom salt and a white candle.

And then I made a bunch more because they are adorable! I even made a couple extra to give to my kids' teachers for Christmas gifts.

I got this little "is liiiike" silver platter at The Dollar Tree. I poured on a bunch of the Epsom salt to make it extra wintery and I was planning on adding some Christmas tree sprigs to give it an extra pop of color.

But my kids Could Not Stop Playing With The Fake Snow. They kept pinching it up in their little fingers and sprinkling it where it didn't belong. Epsom Salt was everywhere! On the table, on the floor, on the couch, fake-flocked onto the little decorative Christmas tree I had just bought. Sorry candles, no more snow-covered platter for you!

Much better.

And so pretty!

Good stuff, right?

Pretty Ornament Art

2011-12-03T22:17:00.001-06:00

I saw this on pinterest. Why, yes. Yes I can.

So I cut out some ornament shapes.

I used bauble shapes from my Christmas Ornament Banner Kit (that's why they have the holes). But you can do any shape that makes you happy.

Even with a perfectly symmetrical printed out version of the shapes, I still folded them in half before I cut them. I mean, I am a grown-up and everything, and I've had my share of scissor usage, but I guaran-darn-tee you, if I didn't fold these suckers in half, they would have been really uneven.

I picked up a jumbo pack of ten 8"x10" canvases at Michael's when they were on sale.

I painted three of them - pink, blue, and green. Because those are my Christmas colors! Geez! I also throw lots of red and white into the mix, but for this project, I wanted my colors on the super happy side.

I traced my ornaments.

With pencil. Unevenly. You got something to say? Huh? Do ya?

And then I smothered the entire ornament shape with Tacky Glue. Aleene's in the gold bottle. It's my favorite and I use it in all my craft kits.

Then I got some beads. After all three ornaments, this is how many beads I still have left. Excellent!

I randomly poured on some of the bigger beads.

And then I added more and more and made a nice even-ish outline around the outside of the ornament.

Then I poured on some of the smaller beads. Some find their home right away. Others sit there at the top, like so:

If you use your finger to make them find their homes, it will just push the bigger ones out to make room. Then your bead outline will get messed up. A mechanical pencil (with no lead showing) worked for me. Go to your home, Bead!

Beads in their homes.

I let it all dry.

I glue gunned some ribbon to the top of the ornament and up around the top of the canvas.

And then I learned how to make The Perfect Bow. Which is an entire craft feat in itself. I asked Google and Google said, No way, man, perfect bows are rough. Oh, wait, you're not five years old? That's embarrassing. You should probably check out this link.

And that's when Martha Stewart showed me the way.

Maybe you have always known how to create The Perfect Bow. Not me. Up until now, when a situation called for a nice looking bow, I would make the only kind I knew how to make. You know. The kind I learned how to make when I was five. For shoelace-tying purposes. Even as a grown-up, if I needed a bow, I would tie that old school one, try to make it look nice, get frustrated, say, "'F' it," and move on with my life.

But now! Now I know! Look at the perfection!

Then I used a white paint pen... wait for it...

to write some ... wait for it...

WORDS IN THE HOME!

You know that I'm usually against them, but I think, for me, they make holidays more fun. After the holidays, though, watch out!

They mostly come at the holidays...mostly. (Get it? Get it? Word Aliens!)

Sparkly. Merry. Bright. Oh, my.

I want to find some pretty white frames for them, but in the meantime...

Up on my mantel they go.

Happy 'Words In The Home' Season!

Fancying Up the Knife Block

2011-11-26T15:29:00.001-06:00

So I saw this on pinterest, and for the life of me I could not figure out why I had never thought of that before. I practically walk around this place on a daily basis with a spray paint can in my hand looking for things to paint. How have you escaped my spray paint wrath all this time, you Ugly, Old Knife Block?

To start, I painted it blue.

To match this guy.

Because even though Squirrel Bird has his own vase, you never know when he might need to protect the family from an axe murderer. He needs to know which weapons to go for at a moment's notice.

I had it in my head that I wanted to stencil my knife block. You know, since the last time I stenciled anything I was 10 years old. There's a reason for that. I suck at stenciling. I can never get the paint even. The paint was thicker in some places, thinner in other places, and, hey, by the way, welcome to Danish Land. Danish Land that looks a little dirty because I used steel wool to sand it all down.

Nope. This is not going the way that I had planned AT ALL.

Jumpin' Happy Mishap! What if I gave it another coat of blue and sanded it down again? Then the heavy paint areas might come up a bit and it might look kind of cool and deliberate!

Hey! It actually worked! There's a first time for everything!

Welcome to my kitchen, Happy, Happy Knife Block.

Christmas Ornament Banner Craft Kit

2011-11-19T13:18:00.001-06:00

It's new craft kit time! Introducing my new Christmas Ornament Banner craft kit!

Isn't it fantastic?!?! I LOVE IT!

This kit includes supplies to make 12 festive ornaments - two of each type: bell, stocking, star, ball, spindle, and onion-shaped bauble ornaments. But if you want a whole banner of only stars or stockings or spindles or whatever, let me know - I can do it!

I obviously like a super-colorful Christmas banner. But if you have a special Christmas color scheme that you really adore, like red and turquoise and white, or all pink, or only green and red, let me know, I can do that for you, too! I'm really nice to talk to - I swear!

And of course, there are lots and lots of decorative ribbons, mini garland, hand-punched paper snowflakes, silver beads, jingle bells, star bling, sequins, and scrapbook paper shapes.

Never before has a Smart-Bottom Kids kit had so many different decorations. I mean, this kit is pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking, but it doesn't plan on finding out what that is.

Yep. Just like Zoolander. Only this kit has more than two possible signature looks. It has, like, a zillion. (Did you just read that last sentence in Zoolander's voice? You know you did!)

I LOVE the natural, rustic look of the double length of banner jute mixed with all the bright colors and sparkle of the ornaments.

And did you notice the sweet little jingle bells in between the ornaments? They're so dainty!

And, just like my other banners, you can use this kit in a bunch of different ways. You and your family can make one long multi-artist banner (That's becoming a little tradition in our family. You can go see our Christmas Tree Family Banner from last year here. And we'll be making a Christmas Ornament Family Banner when we all get together on Thanksgiving - I can't wait!). Or you can cut the jute to make a few shorter, single-artist banners. Or you can even skip the banner altogether and use the kit to make individual ornaments that your child can gift to family and friends for the cutest handmade Christmas presents ever!

I KNOW! You totally need one!

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Estate Sale Roadshow

2011-11-12T01:42:00.001-06:00

So I went to an estate sale and got this for 5 bucks. Do you have any idea what it is?

Because I don't. It has holes and handles, like maybe it wants to be a fancy fruit colander or something. But then it's made of some sort of metal and has some felt on the bottom, like it doesn't want to be fruit colander.

Maybe it's to display potpourri? Fake fruit? Jesus figurines? I have no idea.

So you know what I did, right?

I spray painted it.

And now I use it when we want to play with buttons. Doesn't everyone need an elegant let-the-buttons-slide-through-your-fingers bowl? Yep. That's the kind of life I live. I'm so fancy it's AMAZING. Try not to look at that table underneath the bowl. It's trying to ruin my high class profile.

And sometimes I use it to store ribbon spools. But really I just took this picture so you could see the foot of the bowl.

What IS this thing?

Anyway, I also use my Estate Sale Bowl when I buy $40 worth of sequins. Would you like to know what Forty Bucks of Sequins looks like?

Yeah. Not as big of a Sequin Mountain as I had hoped, either.

So, yes. I use the bowl when I spend my children's college tuition savings to splurge on sparkly round embellishments...

that need to be color-mixed and portioned out into small cello crafting bags.

I could buy the ready-mixed bag of sequins that you can find almost anywhere. BUT! Sometimes I'm very particular about the sequin colors that I need. So I buy all the individual colors and mix them myself.

I'm a total crafting martyr.

Do you know how a normal amount of sequins like to stick to your fingers when you are trying to craft with them? Now multiply that times a 40-dollar-gazillion. I know! It doesn't even make sense. Stop sticking to my fingers, Sequin! Get into your cello bag, Sequin! Why don't you just go home?!? That's your home! Are you too good for your home?!?

Happy Gilmore knows how I feel.

It was like Attack of the Sequins up in here. And then I learned how to easily scoop them up and put them into their bags with a plastic spoon. You know, because I went to college.

To see where these little cello bags of crafty bling ended up, you can wait 'til my next post, or go see them here.

And now I'll give you the biggest hint ever:

Spoiler Alert:

Yay! Christmas Ornament Banner Craft Kits!!!!

Look at the bling! That lovely, sparkly, sequin bling going on at the bottom of the bell, and around the ball, and covering the spindle. It was well worth The Great Sequin War.

Go, Sparkle, Go!

Caterpillar Party Kit

2011-11-04T02:34:00.000-05:00

I just finished another Caterpillar Party Kit!

I love doing party kits because I get to spend the time to personalize them. It's fun for me - it gets my crafty brain moving! And I love the idea that I get to help make a child's birthday a little extra special.

So, sweet little Cayden was turning one and his mom was planning a super awesome bug themed party for him. She was going with a light blue, navy blue, and light green color scheme and asked if I could color match the caterpillars. Why certainly! And not only that, I matched the party favor bags, too. I LOVE this stuff!

Happy Birthday, Cayden!

Since most of the party guests were going to be little, little, little, I prepainted the caterpillar heads and tails and precut all the caterpillar body circles. It's an easy, fun craft. Perfect for the littles.

And, of course, I always include:

And a little card, too!

And, guess what! Cayden's mom said the caterpillars were a HUGE hit!!! YAY!

It's party time made simpler!

Halloween Mantel

2011-10-27T00:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a mantel in the last, umm... ten years-ish. So, even though we're renting this place, and the mantel wood probably rates a negative 7 in Darcy's Top 100 Favorite Woods, I'm still having a fun time decorating it.

And I really love what's going on up in this joint for Halloween Time.

And I did it on the SUPER CHEAP, which I especially love.

The only thing still up there from my usual mantel decor is the round wood vase. But I switched out the white silver dollar stems that are usually in it for some incredibly dark purple, spooky flowers.

Then I bought a bunch of Dollar Tree cylinder vases, hurricane candleholders and taper candleholders. I even picked up a couple bargain candleholders from my favorite thrift store.

I spray painted a couple of the taper candleholders lacquer black, the same that I used for my Halloween Branches, and left a couple plain glass because I like the sparkle. Then I Gorilla Glued the bases and the tops together. Don't they look so fancy? Gorilla Glue is fantastic, but it expands like crazy, so use the tiniest bit you possibly can.

I also wanted to leave a couple of the vases plain glass so that I could use them again for Christmas decorations. But then I couldn't help myself and glue gunned some spiders onto that orange candle vase, so there goes that one. Now it's stuck in Halloweenland for the rest of its life. The tall vase with the black base is filled with plastic spider rings I bought at Walmart last year. I love all the Halloween color they bring in. The eyeballs and skeleton guy bust are from The Dollar Tree.

The cute little Happy Halloween bucket I bought in the dollar bin at Target. Adorable, right? And I really love my skeleton bouquet I have going on in the tall vase. The silver glitter skeletons are from Michael's and the black ones are from a Dollar Tree skeleton garland that I took apart. The bony hands are from Michael's, but they were Peyton's. I had to trade him five eyeballs for them. Seriously. It was kind of awesome. I filled the rest of the bony hand vase with some leftover orange flowers to add more color.

The banners, of course, are from my shop. I especially love the one on the top, because Peyton and Ella helped me make it.

I love my Halloween mantel! I love how the vases are bright and sparkly and I love all the Halloween colors. What do you think?

Happy Halloween Decorating!

Halloween Branches

2011-10-19T00:55:00.004-05:00

So Ali was all - Hey, I scored some branches from the park, want some?
And I was all - Hells yes!
And my mom was all - OH MY DEAR LORD, PLEASE USE PROPER ENGLISH!

I shoved the branches in my car and took them home. I stuck them in a $1 vase from my Dollar Tree store stash. What's that scratch in my car's headliner? Why, sweet husband, I have no idea! The kids must have done something.

And then I spray painted the branches Lacquer Black and filled the vase up with orange and black and clear gems. What's that black paint over-spray doing in the shape of Halloween branches all over the used-to-be-green shrubs at the back of my apartment complex? Why, apartment police, I have no idea! There must have been a wild pack of lacquering hooligans wandering about.

And then I painted on a little silver glitter paint. And then a little more. And then, oh let's just go for it, I covered every single branch in sight.

And then I hot glued on some cute little tiny spiders from Michael's.

And clipped on some spooky butterflies.

And more spiders, big and small...

And a spooky bird. Just because I could. I'm totally the boss of these branches.

I covered those glittertastic black lacquered branches with spooktastic wildlife.

And I gave my Halloween branches some Halloween table neighbors. BOO pumpkins that I made last year, Dollar Tree eyeballs and a Dollar Tree skeleton necklace that I dismembered and stuck in a glass jar.

And even if I have to buy a brand new Halloween storage box just to safely store my free branches in the off-season, you better believe I'm going to do it. I love them!

Thank you for sharing your branches with me, Ali! I couldn't be more thrilled with how they turned out.

Happy Halloween!

Taco Soup

2011-10-10T23:23:00.001-05:00

So. My computer kind of died.

It's been at the almighty computer fixer shop for too long and I've been very sad about it. The computer fixer guy was all - Maybe you should stop eating bagels over the keyboard. And I was all - Well, maybe YOU should install a crumb catcher because THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Right now I'm sitting at my husband's desktop computer - not eating a bagel - because I've been lovingly threatened just a teeny tiny bit - and I find it completely annoying.

For as long as I can remember I've had a laptop that I could boss around and drag from room to room and bed to couch to kitchen table. My husband's computer demands that I sit at a desk. It's mean that way. It is big and heavy and NOT my friend. And it bosses ME around: "No. You have to sit where I tell you. Take that! Sit there and type on my crumb-free keyboard and be grateful your husband has a computer you can use. You don't KNOW me!"

The nerve! I would like to say that his computer reminds me of HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey", but my life has been overrun by my children, so now it just reminds me of Plankton's computer wife Karen from "Spongebob Squarepants."

I used to be a cool girl with a cool laptop. I could blog cool-style while I roamed around and saw the sights of the house. Exciting! I know! I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere! I'm freeeeee!

Now I'm stuck at a desk referencing Spongebob.

It's been a while since I posted, so I'm a gonna start with an easy recipe post. The original recipe was from Paula Deen, which is really surprising, since it doesn't contain even a single stick of butter. I changed a whole bunch of stuff around anyway. Like changing the ground beef to ground turkey because it's more healthful. *sigh*. And omitting the Ranch salad dressing mix because that stuff in a soup just kind of freaks me out. The first time I made Paula's recipe, I was all, "You call this a soup? This ain't no stinkin' soup! Where's the soupiness?" And there really isn't any. It's just the liquid from the canned goods - so you don't need to drain them. It's more of a taco chili, I would say. Doesn't matter. It's still totally delicious! And it is really, really easy and fast to make.

Oh Paula, I still love you and secretly hope you'll become my bonus grandma.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs package ground turkey

2 cups diced onions

1 (30 oz) large can pinto beans (or whatever kinds of beans you like)

1 (30 oz) large can kidney beans

2 cups frozen corn

4 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (with or without chiles - I like mine with)

2 (4.5 oz) small cans diced green chiles

1 (1.25 oz) package low-sodium taco seasoning mix

(Optional) Extra dashes of cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper - as needed

Optional Toppings:

Fritos! NOT really an option, actually. Do it!

Sour cream

Grated cheese

Chopped green onions

Chopped cilantro

Pickled jalapenos

Make It:

Brown the ground turkey and onions in a large stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, and taco seasoning. Cook over low heat for as long as you can stand it.

What was that first picture missing? Ah, yessss! Lots and lots of Fritos!!!

Enjoy!

Halloween Pumpkin Banner Craft Kit

2011-09-25T15:03:00.000-05:00

It's new craft kit time! Introducing my new Halloween Pumpkin Banner! And this one, just like the Christmas Tree Banner kit, is for the whole family to enjoy!

The kit includes supplies to make a 7-foot banner with 12 spookilicious pumpkins. All you need to supply are a super awesome kid or two (you can have up to twelve kids make this kit) and scissors. Really, you don't even need to supply the kids. Make one all by yourself. I did.

But! If you do make one with the kids, here's the plan: You gather everyone at a table, or even a nice big spot on the floor, and lay out all the decorations I've included - short pumpkins, tall pumpkins, scrapbook paper stems, chenille stem vines, sequins, letters to spell out BOO, lots jack-o-lantern eyes and eyebrows and noses and mouths, and decorative ribbons! Whew! That's a lot of fun stuff!

Then you divide up the pumpkins and start decorating! It's fun and creative time for the whole family. Most importantly, it's quality time with your kids - it doesn't get any better than that!

When all the pumpkins are completed, you string them together to create a beautiful Halloween banner (and memory) that can be lovingly brought out year after year.

If you have 2 or more kids decorating the pumpkins, and they each want a banner, it's no problem! Just cut the long banner ribbon into as many pieces as you need, and each child can make a mini-banner!

And look at the cute packaging it all comes in!

Here are some extra pumpkins the Ella, Peyton, and I made.

Ella made the witch with the sequin face and purple and orange ribbon hair. Then she sweetly asked me to cut out a witch's hat. And that's why I now include a piece of plain black card stock in the decorations - just in case your kid is super creative and thinks outside the sequin-BOO-letters-jack-o-lantern-face-decorative-ribbon-box - I've got you covered!

Peyton made the scary-looking jack-o-lantern with the lightning bolt eyebrows. I don't think he even cared about the rest of the face. He based his whole pumpkin around those lightning bolts.

I made the mummy pumpkin with the orange and purple criss-cross ribbons. I love my spooky little mummy pumpkin!

And we strung them all up on a mini banner. I love it! And my kids love showing off the pumpkins they made.

Happy Halloween Crafting!

"Blue Ocean Breeze" Spray Paint Beneficiary #839

2011-09-17T22:38:00.000-05:00

I've had this candle holder since before James and I got married. Whooeee! That was a long time ago! This December we will have been married for A DECADE! 10 years and it only feels like we've been married for 5 minutes. Like 5 minutes UNDER WATER. Ha! Just kidding! I love you, honey!

Anyway! Z Gallerie candle holder. Old and boring and black. I still like the curvy Asian pagoda look of it, but the color was just not not meshing with what I have going on in this here joint.

Someone should really clean up that wax.

I think it saw me coming with my can of spray paint, because I found it cowering in the corner of my closet.

Take that, sucker! And take these new white candles, too!

Do you hear the pagoda candle holder angels singing?

Now it's no longer banished to the dark recesses of my closet. It has earned a prominent position on the top of our bedroom chest dresser thing.

Next to my favorite Ross owls and Z Gallerie clearance hourglass. So sparkly!

I'm not the kind of person who doesn't light candles in order to keep them all perfect and fancy. But, I'll tell you! I'm having a hard time lighting these. Maybe because it's all so white and shiny and sparkly up in here. The rest of my house is not like this. In comparison, it kind of goes like this when you look around: crap crap crap junky crap SPARKLE WHITE AND BLUE PRISTINE DRESSER TOP crap crap. Okay, not really! But still! It's like this (but replace the Fluffy with SPARKLY AND PRETTY!):

Even when we had that big huge California power outage a week ago, and we were without power for nine hours, and night came, and it was dark, and we lit about a thousand candles, we didn't light these. Weird, right? I have my priorities.

We still need some sort of artwork to put on the wall behind it, but I still really love how it all looks.

Sometimes, when James and I are feeling really wild and frisky . . .

wait for it . . .

We switch the candle holder from one side of the dresser to the other. I KNOW! It's hard to keep up with that kind of marriage magic.

The candle holder looks so happy in its new color, don't you think?

My New Metal Basket

2011-09-10T23:27:00.002-05:00

So I found this adorable metal basket at our local Flea Market. I fell in love with it, really. It was dirty and the paint was really dingy looking. But I loved how the wire is shaped all flowery and dainty. And I really loved the $5 price tag. I grabbed it and cradled it lovingly for the rest of my flea shopping day.

And then I took it home and painted it blue. I wanted to spray paint it, but I couldn't find the exact color I wanted. So I ended up mixing two blue and one white acrylic paint colors and hand painting it. I love this color!

And then, after a few tries on my computer, I was able to make the perfect sized circle template to line its bottom. I used the template to pre-cut out a whole bunch of different scrapbook papers. Whenever the mood strikes, I can switch the paper on the bottom. I definitely could have Mod Podged paper onto the bottom and called it a day, but I really like the idea of changing the paper and the look of the bowl.

Right now I'm really loving this white and red polka dotted combo.

Are you noticing the dark background? We stained our dining room table! Yep, the same table that I used in that very first picture at the beginning of this post. It was covered in rust stains and kid marker and all the other signs of a well-loved table. And now it looks so beautiful! But I have to save all that for another post because I'm still working on the chairs. How can I show you a beautiful table that is flanked with ugly, ugly chairs? I CAN'T! So for now, you'll just have see the beautiful dark stain that we used. And the beautiful blue basket that sits on top.

That is filled with apples and lemons.

And sometimes tomatoes.

And soon will be lined with Halloween bat paper.

And filled with eyeballs.

Or with orange flowers.

AND eyeballs. 3 bucks worth of eyeballs from The Dollar Tree. Totally worth it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing a few more bags of decorative eyeballs soon.

Because, really, can one ever have too many decorative eyeballs? I think not! And, also, are you impressed that I just used the term "Decorative Eyeballs" in a sentence?

I already have some Christmas paper picked out. I'm not usually a pine coney person, but this basket seems to want to be filled with a bunch for the holidays. Or maybe with some pretty ornaments.

Valentine's Day? I'm not sure yet.

But I do know that for now, in the off-season, it's filled with fruit. And I love it.

And whenever I glance over and see my new basket, it makes me very, very happy.

Dry Erase Chore Charts

2011-09-03T01:50:00.000-05:00

OH MAN! We needed some chore charts around here. I mean, Peyton and Ella DO chores, like cleaning their room and their bathroom and a bunch of other random things I make them do here and there. But although they DO the chores, they also DO A LOT OF WHINING about it.
The whining is always about their room.
yay. for. me.

And you know what else? Here's the kind of whining I get to deal with: "Mommmmmmmy! You always make us clean stuff that Daddy doesn't make us clean!"
seriously.

I'm not above paying off my kids so that they will shut the heck up.

I could go on and on about how chore charts teach kids responsibility and money management. blah blah blah.
Here's my real life: We started chore charts in our house so I wouldn't have to listen to the whining anymore. And it's been a WHOLE WEEK of using the chore charts. And guess how much whining I've heard about them cleaning their room. Just guess!
Zero point zero zero.
YAY FOR ME!

I also had another reason for Peyton and Ella to start earning some cash. They are always asking for stuff. And by stuff I don't mean food and water, I give that to them for free because I'm a super mom. I'm talking about fun kid stuff. I swear, we could go to the most boring store in all the land, an automotive parts store, say, and those two kids would be able to find something they wanted. They ask and they ask and they ask. Usually I say No. Every great once in a while I say Yes.

And mostly I tell them that they need to put in on their Christmas or Birthday lists. But really, that last part is mean because Peyton's birthday is December 17th and Ella's is January 9th. So I can get away with that kind of talk a couple of months before Christmas, but that's it. I can't pull that kind of crap in February because it's just cruel.

So, now, when they ask for stuff 50 times a day, I can airily respond 50 times a day with, "Well, do you have enough money to buy it?"
And if they say Yes, then I'll yell, "Heck yeah, get it!"
And if they say No, then I'll try my best not to yell, "Well, it sucks to be you, kid!"
or
"Now you know what it feels like when I can't buy myself a new pair of fancy boots because I've been buying you two ALL THAT DANG FOOD AND WATER!"

Anyway. Here's what I did:

I went to Michaels and got two scrapbook frames and then I spray painted them white.

I let Ella and Peyton pick out their own fancy scrapbook paper. I used that as the background of their charts. I printed up the charts that I made, backed them with coordinating paper, and glue-sticked it all together. I used a glue stick because I wanted to be able to easily replace their charts as I change the chores and the rates of pay. I stuck the charts in the frames and hung them up - done!

The hardest part of this whole project was deciding what chores I wanted on the charts. I also threw a little math in there, too. I wanted Peyton and Ella to see how much money they were making for each chore and how it all added up (multiplied up, really). For example, they are expected to clean their room 7 days a week for 5 cents each time, which earns them 35 cents a week. They will each clean the dining room table 2 times a week for 5 cents each time, which earns them 10 cents a week. They get the same amount for cleaning their bathroom sink and counter because they work on that together, so it's not too hard.

All their chores add up to $1 a week. Too cheap, you might think? When I told Peyton and Ella they would earn $1 a week, Peyton's eyes lit up and he started jumping up and down, "Chores! Chores! Chores! Chores!" and Ella whispered, "A WHOLE DOLLAR?!?!" like it was some kind of magic.

I'm awesome like that.

The Parent's Choice is for bonus money and it's optional. Peyton, Ella, and I had an entire discussion about it. If they want to earn extra money, they can ask if there's anything extra they can do. I might have an extra chore for them to do, I might not.

Also, I might ask them to do an extra chore. Sometimes I will let them earn a check mark for it. Sometimes they will just have to do it for nothin'. I didn't want them thinking that they would get money for everything I ask them to do around here. I didn't want any of that, "What am I gonna get if I do this?" nonsense. Gotta nip that rubbish in the bud. Before it even starts.

Some things didn't even make it on the board because they messed with my magic $1 weekly total. Like laundry. Peyton and Ella always put their own laundry away. I fold it, stack it all nicely on my bed, sorted by theme, and they put it away. And they still have to, they just don't get paid for it. They like putting it away, anyway. They've been doing it for way over a year and they still think it's super fun. They're so weird! Every single time they make it into a race to see who can put away all their laundry first. It's adorable.

I hung the charts in the kitchen under my kitchen memo board and next to the refrigerator. I bought them some brand spanking new expo markers that I put in a magnetized holder on the fridge. Peyton and Ella LOVE using dry erase markers. Doesn't every kid?

I should have just ditched the payment plan and told them that every time they do a chore they would be ALLOWED to write a check mark on the glass of their charts with the magical dry erase marker. And if they complete all their chores they would be ALLOWED to magically erase the marks with a paper towel at the end of the week.

School hasn't started here yet, so they can't do the Empty Backpack / Lunchbag chore. And we're in the process of painting and staining our dining room table, so that's out, too. They've decided to make up the missing chore money with doing a bunch of Parent's Choice chores this week.

I love the charts.

Peyton and Ella love their charts.

And, wait, what's that sound? Ah, yes, it's the sound of a room being cleaned with the glorious absence of whining.

Kid Memo Boards

2011-08-26T19:22:00.005-05:00

Peyton and Ella share a room. You knew that, right? It's a small room, but we make do. I try to separate the boy and girl stuff the best I can to give my kids their own space within such a tiny space.

See how Ella has her side of cubes and Peyton has his side of cubes? It looks okay, but I wanted it to fancy it up.

Their memo boards used to be in our basement playroom in Iowa. That was when we had space to spare. So much space that I made art boards for each of them just because I needed to fill up some wall.

The pink and blue boards matched the color theme of their little kid playroom. But now that the boards are in their big kid shared room, they really a needed a make-over.

So I bought fabric in their favorite colors. Purple for Ella. Green for Peyton. How I love shopping for fabric! When I don't have the kids with me it is such a relaxing task!

I stripped both boards of their old fabric and ribbon and got to work.

I painted the outside of Ella's frame:

And hot glued on the fabric. As I become more Craft Mature, I'm realizing that any good project is going to make me curse like a sailor at some point.

The best framed cork boards are the ones where you can take off the frame, pull the fabric around to the backside, staple it on, and then reattach the frame. The fabric is nice and tight and evenly attached. This is not that kind of board.

So my fabric is cut perfectly and I've even folded it over and ironed the edges to make it extra perfect. But as I start at one side and glue and flatten and straighten, the fabric stretches and moves around and then I have extra fabric in the corners of the other side and I don't know how to fix it. And cutting fabric that is mostly glued down is a disaster. And I don't want to cut too much, because then the fabric pattern will be all wonky and uneven. I vividly remember this exact thing happening last time I made the boards. It's a frustrating mess. I know you can't tell from the pictures, but believe me! Hot messes are running rampant around here.

But that's what embellishments are for, right? To cover up hot messes. I was planning on embellishing the boards anyway. Really! I WAS! Dang!

I glued on matching ribbon:

I did the same for Peyton's:

I had originally planned on embellishing Ella's board with a bunch of purple silk hydrangeas. But, really, the whole thing needed a big pop of color, so I learned some new tricks and went for it.

I bought a quarter yard each of some pretty fabrics, a handful of pearly and sparkly buttons, and some fabric glue. I got out my hot glue gun and scissors. I sat down on the couch and for two nights in a row I made flowers while I watched TV.

Ella loved the flowers so much that she asked if I could make an extra of each one as a hair clip for her. So of course I did!

It took a little time, but I found some great tutorials and I learned how to make rolled fabric flowers and petal pusher flowers. Once I got the hang of the techniques, they were pretty simple to make. After I had a whole bunch of them, as well as some silk-type flowers I had on hand, I started arranging and hot gluing them to Ella's board.

My kids LOVE watching me make stuff for them. I think it makes them feel extra special when I create things just for them. As I was arranging the flowers, Peyton and Ella walked into the room and they were both so excited - "Whoa! It's so pretty!" "That's so coooool!"

It's one of the nicest sounds in the world.

Peyton's board needed some embellishing, too. I wanted to hot glue on some of his small toy jets, but he wasn't willing to give them up for decoration's sake. I don't blame him.

He has a zillion army men, so I talked him into letting me have some for his board. Most of his army men are green and tan, which would match the green and blue hounds tooth pattern really nicely. But I wanted some extra color on his board, too. So I took the army men outside on gave them a few coats of spray paint. Here they are, about to meet their maker - their color maker. mwahahaaaaa.

They turned out really cool looking! Peyton liked the red army men so much that he asked me to paint extras for him to play with. So of course I did!

Since the army men have flat bases, I just hot glued them along the bottom of the board. Peyton helped me with the arranging. He has an eye for this sort of thing and he loves making patterns.

I was able to grab a couple of his red jets and attach them with push pins. I like the look of them, and Peyton is happy because he can take them off to play with if he wants.

I like that it's embellished, but in pure boy style.

And I think the boards look really neat next to each other.

I also bought some new pushpins to match the boards. Ella made hers into a happy face. With hair!

Peyton made his into bombs. And he added an extra jet and a race car patch.

I bought a bunch of extra fabric so that I could personalize their storage cubes a little more.

Because this is really 3 vertical sets of cubes that aren't attached to each other, it was easiest just to nail the fabric to the wall behind them. Easiest being a relative term. It was still a huge pain to line up the fabric with the cubes. There was a lot of pulling the cubes away, nailing fabric, moving the cubes back, quiet cursing, pulling the cubes away, removing nails, dropping nails, nailing fabric again, moving the cubes back, deep breathing and walking away. If the cubes were attached to each other it would have saved me a whole lot of under-my-breath-cursing.

But I REALLY love how it all turned out.

And Peyton and Ella are taking a little more pride in keeping their sides tidy, so it was all worth it.

Guess Where We Went!

2011-08-18T20:32:00.007-05:00

James planned a little mini-vacation for us on the sly! Sweet, sweet, sneaky husband! We were only there for 3 days but we had soooo much fun!

See how many clues it takes you to figure out were we went!

Clue #1

We stayed in our home state of California, but we flew on an airplane. This was Peyton and Ella's first plane ride, so it was a super big deal!

On our plane ride we saw typical plane stuff:

And The Simpsons:

And a storm a-brewin':

Pretty cool, right?

Clue #2

Our hotel room had this view (hmmm...is that an island back there?):

Clue #3

We took a tour of a submarine:

I'll tell you, every single time Peyton came home from the school library last year, he either had a book about skateboarding or some sort of warfare - aircraft carriers, battleships, tanks - you name it. So seeing the inside of a REAL SUBMARINE was really cool!

Clue #4

We walked down a really, really curvy street!

Clue #5

We went to the best smelling bakery in all the land - Boudin Bakery:

And we ate in their restaurant. And had clam chowder. In a sourdough bread bowl.

Clue #6

We went to an Aquarium where we got to see all sorts of sea life, like Sharks and Sea Stars and Sea Nettles:

And why the H E double hockey sticks does a sting ray need to look like this? It's just creepy!

The Aquarium also had some really useful information in their women's restroom:

Clue #7

We went to a Fisherman's Wharf where there were lots of sidewalk food stands:

And we had dinner at Nick's. Lobster bisque. In a sourdough bread bowl.

Clue #8

We saw A LOT of sea lions!

I love this guy:

You know what? Sea lions are SUPER STINKY.

Clue #9

We took a bay cruise and saw this island close up:

And this bridge:

Did you figure it out yet?

Here's the final clue!

Clue #10

We spent $15!!!

(On this souvenir picture. Totally worth the money because I love this picture!)

How many clues did it take you? :)

3 Things

2011-08-10T02:22:00.001-05:00

1. My Blog Got a Make Over

Did you notice? Viva la Violette created it for me. She's so wonderful and now my blog is so pretty! (I won the makeover in a giveaway. Because as much as I adore fancy blogs, I'm WAAAAY to cheap to pay for one. And that's why I feel so lucky to have won!) And now it has all sorts of fancy buttons and backgrounds and stuff. My blog is so high class. Now it totally thinks it's better than me. It doesn't matter. I will not be changing out of my flip-flops this summer just to impress my blog. Forget it BLOG. I'm still the boss of you.

But I have a question for you, Best Blog Readers in All the Land -
My old blog header had some pictures:

Should I add some new pictures to my new header (that match the color scheme) or do you like it simple and without pictures? I kind of like the extra splashes of color that pictures add, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

2. Homemade Magic Shell

I think I might have had the real Magic Shell ice cream topping only once or twice when I was growing up. At a friend's house. And because we never had it in our house, I always thought it was extra delicious and fantastical. Isn't that always the way it goes?

When I had my own kids I really wanted them to enjoy the fantasticalness of Magic Shell. But that's before I saw how much it costs. One bottle, sure, I can afford that. But that's just like a free sample from a drug dealer. Then they're hooked and I'm at the grocery store 3 and 4 times a week going broke getting them their Magic Shell fix.

Sucks to be you, kids. Enjoy your Magic-Shell-free childhoods.

But then I saw this and our lives changed forever. It's so easy!

Two ingredients:

Coconut Oil (Did you know it has all sorts of health benefits? Check it out here!)

Chocolate Chips

Measure out 1/2 cup coconut oil (in solid form) and 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips.

Microwave until the chocolate chips are just starting to melt (about a minute). Stir it all up until it's nice and smooth and melted.

Pour over ice cream.

Wait for it to turn that magical waxy shade of hardened chocolate.

This was my kids' favorite part: "It's changing! It's changing! It's changing!"

And then they cracked into it with their spoons and were so amazed!

Add another mental point to my Coolest Mom Chart.

It's a mental point because it's a made up chart that doesn't exist.

*note to self: make a Coolest Mom Chart. Like a Potty Chart, or, say, a No Whining Chart, but for all the cool things I do for my kids. And then whenever my kids whine about something ridiculous I will simply direct them to the charts. And then they will know for sure that I win because I will have more stickers on my Cool Mom Chart than they have on the NO FREAKIN' WHINING CHART.

ANYWAY! What were we talking about? Homemade Magic Shell! It tastes just like the real thing! But if you want, you can go check out the ingredients for the real Magic Shell here. See! Almost exactly the same!

You can store your Magic Shell in a microwave safe container. I refrigerate mine, but I don't think it's necessary - the Smuckers site says you don't need to refrigerate the real Magic Shell.

And then whenever you are in need of some chocolate fantasticalness, just microwave it until it turns into its liquid state (I'm soooo scientific), pour it over ice cream, and crackle away!

3. Possibly the Coolest Kitchen Gadget EVER.

I love cherries. Do you? And how do you do you feel about the whole eat-the-cherry-and-then-spit-out-the-pit-nonsense? Not the best thing, but you have to deal, right?

That's what I thought. Until my sweet cousin, Rachel, bought me this:

That's right! It's a QuickPit. It's so fun to use! You stick the cherry in, pull the trigger, and BAM! Out pops the pit!

See that hole? Yep, it's where the pit used to be until I BLASTED THAT SUCKER RIGHT OUT!

Watch the how-to video here. Notice how she does it all calmly and slowly. And then picture me doing the same thing with some gusto. Dang! I aim my cherry gun at a white bowl and shout BAM! BAM! BAM! as I shoot those cherry pits out! And then I get to make myself a beautifully pristine bowl of pitless cherries. Now THAT is some fun delicious snacking!

Awesomeness. What's your favorite fun kitchen gadget?

Chicken Enchiladas

2011-08-02T03:03:00.003-05:00

Do you remember my last post when I made Slow-Cooker Chicken Tacos? And I told you that I make something fantastic with the leftover chicken?

I got the Leftover-Chicken-for-Enchiladas idea from Cristina Ferrare. She was on Oprah and you know how I LOVES ME SOME OPRAH! Anyway, Cristina makes whole roasted chickens and then uses the cooked chicken for all sorts of recipes. It's kind of awesome. I knew my leftover chicken from the Chicken Tacos would work perfectly!

So I changed her recipe a little, and I'm pretty proud of my version:

Yum! Yum! Here we go!

Chicken Enchiladas

16-28 ounce can enchilada sauce (red or green)

12-18 corn tortillas

1 can refried beans

1 jar salsa (regular red or salsa verde)

1 small can diced green chiles (optional)

3 cups shredded cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

Leftover slow-cooker chicken, shredded

Garnishes: Sour cream, avocado, cilantro, lettuce, tomato, hot sauce - whatever you like!

A note about the ingredients:

I use the leftover chicken from my slow-cooker chicken tacos, but you can use any cooked chicken that you have on hand.

How many enchiladas you make will depend on how much chicken you had left over and how much stuff you pack into each tortilla. If you have a lot of chicken left over (2 cups or more), go with the bigger can of enchilada sauce (you can always freeze any extra sauce). I had so much chicken left over that I was able to fill a 9" x 13" baking dish to serve now and a small 8" x 8" baking dish that I froze for a later meal.

I also had some leftover taco garnishes (cheese, cilantro, and onions), so when I packed up my leftover chicken on taco night, I mixed them in, too. I packed up my leftover lettuce separately to serve on the side.

For these enchiladas, I used green enchilada sauce and salsa verde.

Make It:

Heat oven to 400°.

Pour the can of enchilada sauce into a large bowl or small casserole dish. Warm it up in the microwave for a minute or two. Dip tortillas in the sauce to soften them.

On a cutting board or plate, gently spread refried beans on one side of each tortilla. Add enough leftover slow-cooker chicken to cover the beans. Sprinkle with cheese. Add chiles and salsa.

This is a messy step! Your hands and enchilada prep plate are going to get messy messy messy, so make sure you have all your ingredients for this step accessible and easy to grab with your messy hands.

Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down in a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Blend the sour cream into the remaining enchilada sauce in the tortilla-soaking bowl. Pour over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until hot and bubbly. OH YUM.

You could definitely eat your enchiladas just like that, with rice and beans on the side, or...

You could cover them with your favorite garnishes. Sour cream, avocado, cilantro, lettuce - I refuse to eat my enchiladas without sour cream. Really, what's the point? And I love the creaminess of the avocado and the freshness of the cilantro and the crispness of the lettuce.

And I love diced tomato for its cool sweetness and extra beautiful color:

And if you're like me, you drizzle the whole thing with TAPATIO hot sauce! Spicy deliciousness!

Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tacos

2011-07-25T13:23:00.001-05:00

MmmMmm TACOS! If I had to eat one kind of food for the rest of my life it would be tacos. Chicken tacos, beef tacos, fish tacos, shrimp, pork, veggie, scrambled egg tacos. The filling and the topping possibilities are endless.

I grew up with ground beef tacos, which I absolutely adore. Especially when they're served in a freshly fried crispy corn tortilla. Not the store-bought hard taco shells - I'm talking about corn tortillas fried in oil right before the tacos are assembled. Fried deliciousness! It makes me happy just thinking about them.

BUT! These healthier slow-cooker chicken tacos are giving the comforting ground beef tacos a run for their money! They are the easiest and most delicious chicken tacos I've had. I originally found the recipe in Martha Stewart's Living magazine a few years back. I tried them and I WAS HOOKED.

Martha. Seriously. You had me at Taco.
And then you had me again at Slow-Cooker.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tacos

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6)

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 cup prepared tomato salsa

1 or 2 chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo

1 tablespoon chili powder

Coarse salt and ground pepper

8 corn tortillas

Toppings!
Cilantro, shredded cheese, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, lime wedges, hot sauce, sour cream - whatever you like!

A note about the ingredients:

I buy bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs because they're always cheaper than the other. And then I always kick myself later for being a cheap-ass. I take the skin off before I throw them in the slow-cooker and that's a pain. After the chicken is cooked, I have to shred around the bone and that's a pain, too. But I do it Every Single Time. And Lord knows, the next time I'm staring at the chicken in the grocery store, guess what I'll be buying. Yep. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Because I'm a money-saving martyr.

I've talked about chipotle chiles in adobe before. If you have never tried them, don't be afraid! Start with one and see what you think. They really add such a nice smoky flavor. If you are too afraid, go ahead and make the tacos and skip the chiles. You'll still be my friend. But SO HELP ME if you tell me that you think cilantro tastes like soap... we might have an issue. The issue being that cilantro is fantastic and you're wrong. That's right. I said it.

Every time I make this, I double the chicken recipe. I use all the leftover chicken and garnishes to make FANTASTIC chicken enchiladas. I'll tell you all about those in my next post. They're worth the wait!

Make It:
In slow cooker, combine chicken, garlic, salsa, chipotle chile, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cover; cook on high, 4 hours (or on low, 8 hours).

Here's my chicken slowly cooking away. The dark red pieces that you see in the picture are the chipotle peppers. I also added a chopped tomato to this batch because I had one that was getting a little too soft. I didn't add it to the recipe above because I'm a rebel like that.

Transfer chicken to a serving bowl, and shred, using two forks; moisten with cooking juices.

Here's my finished, shredded chicken. Doesn't it look delicious?

Serve in taco shells and load with your favorite toppings!

I've been trying to NOT fry my tortillas lately. You know, to make the tacos more healthful. It's SO BORING! They're still delicious, but I do think that frying the tortillas brings the tacos to a whole new level of tastiness.

Ignore my soft corn tortilla picture and Go! Go forth and fry your tortillas!

Enjoy!

If you could only have one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Cold-Brewed Coffee

2011-07-16T01:15:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had cold-brewed iced coffee? Because it is DELICIOUS.

The New York Times posted this recipe for it, and then all sorts of my favorite food bloggers were talking about it, so I decided to give it a try.

It's kind of amazing. And really easy.

Here's what you do:

Mix 1/3 cup of coarse ground coffee (the darker roast, the better) with 1 1/2 cups of cold water in the container of your choice. I triple and quadruple the recipe because I likes me some coffee yo!

Were you expecting mine to be in some sort fancy Mason jar? Ha! Turns out, clam chowder takeout containers are the perfect coffee maker. Take THAT Toddy McTodd Todd!

Anyway, you mix the coffee grounds with the water, cover it up, and then try to ignore it for the next 12 to 15 hours. You don't even need to refrigerate it during this time, although you can if you really want to. I don't.

And yes, this is the same lid I used as a rainbow template for the Tooth Fairy Door. So?

When the coffee has served its counter time, you can strain it with a paper coffee filter or a double layer of cheesecloth. I've even heard of people using a couple layers of paper towels. Dude! I make mine in a clam chowder takeout cup, so I'm not judging.

And maybe I need to clarify. I do own Tupperware. A lot of it. I even own a few Mason jars. But I've been going to the Crab Cooker since I was little little little. We used to eat there with my Nanny - my great-grandmother - and it has a very special place in my heart. It's a little bit of a trek for us to go there now, but whenever we're in the neighborhood, we try to stop by and eat in or grab some clam chowder to go. I just love my Crab Cooker containers.

Back to the coffee! I pour my coffee ground concoction directly into the coffee filter of my coffee maker. You know, without turning the coffee maker on or anything. I just use it for the filter.

Pour the filtered coffee into a covered container and stick it in the fridge. It can stay fresh in there for a good couple of weeks. I know! This stuff is amazing.

At this point, it's basically coffee concentrate that you should mix with equal parts water or milk. I like my coffee strong, so I don't dilute it very much. Cold-brewed coffee isn't bitter at all! It's just pure heavenly iced deliciousness. Try it and see!

Fill a glass with ice.

Pour in some of your cold-brewed coffee. Since the coffee is not hot, it won't melt the ice cubes and get all watery and bland. You know what I'm talking about. Sad, sad melty ice cubes. Layer of watered-down coffee and half-melted ice cubes on top of regular coffee. I will no longer drink that sort of nonsense.

Iced coffee made from hot coffee is a little bit delicious.

Iced coffee from cold-brewed coffee is VERY delicious.

Then you can fix your iced coffee however you darn well please.

I like Coffeemate or half and half and Torani flavored syrup. It makes me feel fancy.

And then I drive by Starbucks and yell out my car window, "Suck It!"

Okay, I've never done that.

But just look at it! Seriously! It doesn't get any better.

Mmmm Mmmm! Refreshing!

Try it and let me know what you think!