Homemade Edible Finger Paint

Snowing here.

Pretty great excuse for a homemade edible finger paint night!

   

The Imagination Tree

Snicker’s Brownies

So, Snickers “really satisfies”, right?  Do you think one of these snickers brownies would satisfy?

 

Me neither.  I’m probably going to need at least three.

Jasey’s Crazy Daisy

Vegan Sweet Potato Burgers with Avocado

I’m usually not one to get very excited when I hear the term “vegan”.  But, people, check out this (vegan) sweet potato burger with avocado:

Wow!  I have a feeling I’m not going to miss the meat at all!      

Healthy Happy Life

Bacon & Corn Griddle Cakes

How gorgeous (and interesting) are these bacon & corn griddle cakes?!  

Recipe Girl

Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu

Another way to simplify chicken cordon bleu:  In the slow cooker!

Can’t wait to see if I can the topping on top of  Chef in Training‘s slow cooker chicken cordon bleu crispy…

Plaid Cookies for St Patrick’s Day

Love these plaid cookies for St. Patrick’s Day.

The Decorated Cookie makes them cute, festive, and simple.

(I can see translating this technique to a blue/brown/white combo for a fun plaid baby shower or for a batch of Father’s Day cookies to send to work.)

Chile Relleno Casserole

You know by now that I can be a little bit lazy in the kitchen.  Especially when it comes to the whole process of breading & frying.  That’s one reason why I love this recipe for chile relleno casserole.  It takes the traditionally breaded and fried chile rellano and both simplifies and “healthifies” it.  Make it as simply as possible as suggested here - using canned whole green chiles - or take it up a notch by roasting your own garden fresh green chiles (it is truly excellent this way)!  The canned chiles themselves in this dish are only very mildly spicy. You are welcome to control the spiciness by choosing whether or not to leave some of your chile ribs & seeds in there (if you’re roasting fresh) and by choosing the spiciness of the salsa you pour on top.  I’ve even made it before with red or green enchilada sauce on top instead of the salsa (when my kids were really young and intolerant of any spiciness), but I’m presenting it here the way my family loves it best.  This version is quick & easy to prepare, uses ingredients you more than likely have on hand (even if you’re overdue for a trip to the grocery store…like I was yesterday), and can be adapted to a variety of tastes. 

(Vegetarian) Chile Relleno Casserole
4 (4-oz) cans whole green chiles, drained
shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
4 eggs, separated
3 T flour
1 (14-oz) can evaporated milk
salt & pepper, to taste
salsa

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 9”x"9” square casserole with a single layer of green chiles. 

Cover the chiles with a layer of cheese

Follow with second layer of chiles as well as another layer of cheese. 

Make the egg “filling”, as follows:  separate the eggs and beat the whites to form peaks. 

While the whites are beating, beat the yolks together in a separate medium bowl and then beat in the milk, flour, salt, and pepper. Once the whites are done beating, gently (it is critical that you aren’t too rough with them; you want all those beautiful bubbles to stay intact!) fold them into the yolk mixture. 

Once the whites mixture and yolks mixture are incorporated, pour the mixture on top of the layered chiles and cheese.

Cover the pan with foil and “tent” the foil as follows:

Tear a piece of foil several inches longer than needed to cover the casserole.  Cover the pan loosely, then use your fingers to pinch up about an inch of the foil and fold it over. 

Make “pleats” thusly in two or three places along the top of the casserole, then secure the foil tightly around the casserole edges as you would normally if you weren’t tenting the pan. 

Now, just grab each pleat in the middle and gently pull up to lift the foil away from the egg mixture.  The pulled pleats create “ribs” that give the foil extra structure to stand up away from the egg mixture as it rises, keeping it from sticking and causing the egg mixture to fall.   

Bake, covered & tented, at 325 degrees for 1 hour, then remove the foil and pour salsa on top.  Sprinkle with cheese and cook 30 additional minutes, uncovered.

Serve with Spanish rice & refried beans; if desired, garnish with sour cream, lettuce, black olives, and green peppers.  Serves 4.

How to Bake Bacon

Food For My Family has some great tips on how to bake bacon. For crisp, evenly cooked slices that don’t make a greasy mess all over your kitchen, this is a technique to try.

I also love that it frees up your stovetop for the pancake flippin’ and the egg scramblin’.

Hi! (-atus)

I’m sorry about my recent hiatus.

 

Actually…I take that back.  No, I’m most definitely not. 

You see, the Messy Mister whisked us all away to Disneyland for a much-needed, long-anticipated family vacation.  This vacation was supposed to happen back in September but kept getting put off for one reason or another.  We did pack the laptop.  We did have Wi-Fi. I did intend to blog.  It’s just that I got caught up.

In this: 

…and this:

Oh, and I’m always a BIG fan of this:

We had to concentrate really hard to achieve this:

…and I had NO intentions of missing any of this:




So I just decided to let myself be “caught up”. Carried away is probably more like it, with the togetherness of it.  Why mess with that? 

 

 

It was a very nice break. But, even though getting back into the day-to-day grind of everyday life feels a little bit like this:
…it’s good to be back to the old routine.  Despite the Matterhorn Mountain-sized pile of laundry and the fact that we seem to be “missing” a periwinkle guppy named Blueberry, everything here is just as we left it.  Yes, all the messes have waited patiently for me to take care of them.

Except that the milk has gone sour and the bread is growing…something.  Looks like I’m cooking from the pantry tonight…stay tuned!

How to Cook From Your E-Reader

Todd Wilbur has a couple useful tips for cooking from your e-reader. 

Without destroying it. 

Family Birthday/Anniversary/Special Event Calendars

Have you guys discovered how nice Pinterest is at gift-giving time? 

I’m not just talking about the thousands of ideas that you can make or buy for gifts.  I’m talking about how suh-weet it is when someone for whom you need a gift is a pinner.  All you have to do is check out their pins.  Find something on their list of things to make.  Make it for them.  You KNOW they need/want it.  They’re gonna love it.  That makes it so much fun! 

One of my favorite pinners, my SIL, had found & pinned this fun birthday calendar.  Since she’d pinned it, I knew she would love one, and my other SIL is the kind of person who never forgets a birthday or anniversary.  So I figured she would probably appreciate one, too. 

 

I did change it up quite a bit, though:

I found some 18”x18” sheet metal at a local craft store for $6. 

I cut some scrap fabric wider than the metal square (if your fabric scrap is bigger, give yourself more to spare…I just used what I had on hand.  Ideally, I would have liked to have worked with about 4 extra inches all the way around…so, 26”x26”) and cut 90 degree angles in the corners in to the 18” metal.  Basically, this just amounts to notching out a square in each corner whose dimensions are as many inches as your fabric is bigger than your metal.  Have that ideal 26” square of fabric?  You’ll cut 4” squares out of each corner. 

Once you’ve got your fabric cut, you’re ready to Mod Podge it onto your metal square.  Just glob some on there…

…and spread it out with a sponge brush.  Try to get it fairly even.  If the glue is thick in areas, you can end up with bubbles between the fabric & metal in those areas.

Now, apply the fabric carefully to the glue-covered front of the metal (*If you need the fabric to line up perfectly, or if you just want a more predictable way to get it on there, be sure to check out the instructions below, for covering the back of the board).

Flatten out the bubbles underneath the fabric and all the wrinkles in the fabric.  You can run a ruler or straightedge along there to burnish it to the metal, or (if your fabric doesn’t have a geometric pattern that has to line up straight, you can actually just gently pull and stretch the wrinkles out.  However you get them out, just GET THEM OUT; otherwise, you’ll have unsightly wrinkles (and don’t we already have enough of those?) and your magnets won’t want to stick. 

Once you’ve got your front flattened out nicely, flip it over and Mod Podge the sides.  Start by pulling one side around to the back and gluing it on all along its length.  Do this on the opposite side, too.  Then, fold and glue a 45 degree angle in each of the corners of your top & bottom border, like so:

…then simply glue the 3rd & 4th sides down all along their length, too.
Now just set it up on something  and let it dry overnight. 

After your glue has dried completely, you can start laying out your grid.  I wanted a title on top of my board, but you could just as easily go without.  Divide the board up however you choose, and draw your grid out on the front of the board with a pencil.

Next, cut your lines out of vinyl as follows:

Secure a piece of vinyl onto your cutting mat by taping (I used masking tape) it on both ends and in the center.  Then, simply use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut as many 1/8” lenths of vinyl as you require to make your grid. 

Now simply apply those strips to your gridlines and wrap them around to the back of the metal.  Some advice:  keep your strips long so they’ll wrap around onto a good portion of the metal on the back.  The vinyl won’t stick very well to the fabric (not yet anyway) so having it stick well onto the back really helps them stay in place until you can get them sealed down. 

If having the back look so messy with all this stuff bothers you (it did me!), you can easily cover it by just cutting a coordinating piece of fabric and Mod Podging it right on top.

*This time I didn’t want to be pulling & tugging wrinkles out from under the fabric.  I wanted it to sit squarely and neatly on there.  When you do the front of the board, if you choose a fabric with a pattern that has to line up, you’ll want to use this technique for applying the fabric there, too.

Lay your fabric on there lined up just exactly as you want it.

Now, fold it in half on top of itself without moving the stationary side.  Apply glue to the exposed side.

Spread the glue, then carefully ease your fabric onto the glue, smoothing as you go, from the center (fold) outward.

Now just repeat on the other side. 

Now you’re ready to seal the project.  Simply apply a generous second coat of Mod Podge on top of everything.  (The front, too – I didn’t take a picture but it’s important to seal the front.  This really glues those vinyl strips down and seals them to the board. 

(Pay attention to your brushstrokes on this final application of Mod Podge.  It will dry with whatever texture you give it (but, obviously, clear instead of white). 

The rest is pretty self-explanatory.  Simply make your monthly tabs, your title (if desired), and your special occasion dates, including name & date.  If you need help with this part, you can refer to my magnetic menu planning board post, which details how to make the tabs, laminate them, and apply the magnet backing. 

Note:  I wrote the month on the back of each circle just as a precaution in case one got knocked off or displaced somehow.  If you have the month written on there, you can quickly & easily replace it under the appropriate month from whence it came.

 

Linking up this week.