Broccoli Spinach Balls

I made these broccoli and spinach balls last week to take to our neighbor's house for dinner.  The original recipe is just for spinach balls but I did half and half.  They were really good but there are definitely some changes I would make to the recipe.  The recipe calls for 6 eggs.  I used five but I think you could get away with using four eggs. Also it calls for a stick of butter but HALF of a stick would be plenty. Finally I added bread crumbs until the mixture became thick enough to "roll" into balls. The recipe I am posting below will reflect the changes I would make if I made these again. The original recipe came from The Curvy Carrot.

Spinach and Broccoli Bites

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped (I used minced onion)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 10-ounces packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 10 ounce package of broccoli thawed
8-ounces stuffing mix
4 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter over medium heat in a pan, add the onion and cook til translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Make sure all of the water is removed from the broccoli and spinach. Combine the stuffing mix, spinach, broccoli, eggs, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and onion/garlic mixture. Combine well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the mixture into individual 1-inch balls. Place each one on the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake the balls for about 15-20 minutes.

The Easiest BBQ Chicken

I found this recipe on, you guessed it, Pinterest and it was super easy and really good.  You could serve the chicken as a whole breast but I shredded it with a fork and ate it as pulled BBQ chicken.  The original recipe came from the blog Stick a Fork In It.

BBQ Chicken

4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Mix BBQ sauce with all ingredients listed under it. Place chicken in crock pot and pour the sauce over it. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. If serving shredded, take out the breasts, shred with a fork and then add as much sauce from the crock pot until you have the desired amount in your shredded chicken.

Crescent Roll Breakfast Ring

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I knew it would be a huge hit with Fly Boy and I was correct! This was super easy and I think you could make a ton of changes to the meat and additions to the eggs to always have something different!  This recipe came from the blog Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo.

Crescent Roll Breakfast Ring

1 can Crescent Rolls
5 eggs
Grated cheese
8 pieces of cooked bacon or another desired meat


Lay the 8 triangles from the Crescent Rolls on a piece of parchment paper so that the corners of the base of the triangles meet. It forms a sun type shape.  Lay a piece of bacon on each triangle. Spread a little cheese on the bacon.  Cook and scramble the egg. Lay the cooked egg over the cheese. Top the egg with more cheese and then pull the tip of the triangle up and over the bacon, egg and cheese mixture to form a wreath or ring. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

Chili Lime Steak Rub from Our Best Bites

Last week I made this steak rub from, you guessed it, Our Best Bites and Fly Boy grilled the steak. It was REALLY good. I have yet to make something from their blog or cookbook that I have not liked. The rub gave the steak a good flavor but it was not overwhelming. Again, if you have not checked out their blog or the cookbook I high recommend that you do it, NOW!

Chili Lime Steak Rub
From Our Best Bites

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lime (about 2 Tbsp lime juice)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut

Mix all dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients.  Rub the marinade over the steak and let it sit for 15 minute.  Grill as desired.

Chicken and Shrimp Mexican "Lasagna"

A lot of times I find recipes that I want to make and as I am reading the ingredients I either don't like them or I do not have them handy.  I had printed a recipe for a shrimp enchilada bake and realized that it had green salsa and green enchilada sauce in it.  I don't like any kind of green Mexican sauce so I improvised! Also I didn't have a ton of shrimp and I had some leftover chicken so I just combined the two. This meal was really good and I realized I am obsessed with refried beans with melted cheese!!!

2 cups of cooked shrimp/chicken
1 can corn
2 cups salsa divided
1 can refried beans
6-9 corn or four tortillas
Shredded cheese

Mix chicken/shrimp, corn and 1 cup of salsa (or enchilada sauce) in a microwavable container.  Microwave on high for two minutes.  In a small casserole dish spread a thin layer of salsa on the bottom of the dish.  Layer tortillas over the salsa.  Spread refried beans over the tortilla and then spread some of the chicken/shrimp mixture over the beans.  Keep layering as desired.  On top of the last layer of tortillas spread refried beans and salsa.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and five minutes before it is done spread cheese on the very top of the "lasagna". We ate ours with guacamole.

Heath Bar Blondies

We had some extra Heath Bar pieces left over from when I make Hello Dolly Bars so I decided to browse Pinterest to see what recipes were out there for Heath Bar cookies.  While searching the pins I found this super easy (and yummy) recipe for Heath Bar blondies.  Less time and less effort sounded good to me!! The recipe is from the blog Lovin' From the Oven.


1 cup All Purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped Heath Bars (I used 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits and 1/2 cup caramel chips)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Cream together the brown sugar and melted butter. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until blended.
3.) Stir in the Heath Bars and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.
4.) Bake for 30-35 minutes.

4th of July Strawberries and Strawberry Mojitos

At the end of my three week journey away from South Texas I stayed for a few days at my inlaw's house near Dallas.  My sister in-law wanted to make red, white and blue strawberries that she had seen her cousin make. My mother in-law wanted to make mojitos and I got really excited because I had JUST SEEN a recipe for strawberry mojitos on Pinterest.

The quick description for how to make these mojitos can be found here!  Blend together 1 can frozen limeade, 1/2 can (the one that held the limeade) rum, 2 cups frozen strawberries, and a muddled mixture of a few leaves of fresh mint and the pulp of two limes.

For the strawberries you need white chocolate melted with a tsp of oil, washed and dried strawberries and blue sugar.  Dip the strawberries in the white chocolate 3/4 of the way up the strawberry.  Immediately dip about half way up the strawberry with the blue sugar.  Place on wax paper to harden.  Afterwards I thought using some cream cheese frosting for the white would taste AMAZING!

Rosemary Focaccia Bread from Our Best Bites

I have returned from pretty much a month in MD (with a stop in Bermuda) and I have kind of gotten the house back in order and my blogging, cooking, crafting urge is at an all time high! I must have let that secret out of the bag because I now have 11 aviator winging banners to sew.  Anyway, at some point in the last month or so I made this Rosemary Focaccia bread from one of my favorite websites/cookbooks, Our Best Bites.  These ladies get it right EVERY time! This bread was so good that I took it out of the oven, stole a bite and immediately got on Facebook and left them a comment about how awesome it was (AND they "liked" my comment! SCORE!)

The recipe can be found at Our Best Bites.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream


If you like peanut butter in small doses this recipe IS NOT for you. Imagine taking some peanut butter, just adding enough milk to be able to stir it, throw in some Reese's and freeze.  That is pretty much what happened here. I LOVE peanut butter so this was amazing to me!! This recipe is from www.recipegirl.com.

credit

You can find the recipe for the ice cream here!

         
                                  

Sweet Successes Guest Cook Jamie...Stuffed Zucchini

While I was home in Maryland I made my sister Jamie make this recipe in case it didn't come out and I could blame her! But it came out great.  I found this recipe while I was pinning my life away on Pinterest. It came from the blog Kayotic Kitchen. The only change we made was that we added a few more tablespoons of sour cream once we had the veggies all mixed together.  It was a little runny so if you added some softened cream cheese in place of a tablespoon or two of sour cream it might thicken it up. Also you might want to precook or grill the zucchini before adding the stuffing and baking.

You can find the recipe here!

Strawberry Cookie Tarts

I was blog stalking a month or so ago and found this recipe at Me and My Pink Mixer. I made these cookie tarts while I was home in Maryland and everyone LOVED them.  I think my grandfather loved them the most.  He is diabetic and I think he ate at least 6 along with some ice cream cake.  He was fine, no worries! You just need some cookie dough, sugar, cool whip and cream cheese.  Check out the recipe at Me and My Pink Mixer.

                                                                        My sister, Caitlin.



Muffin Tin Pizzas and a Quick Vent

This is a cooking/crafts/sewing etc blog but I am going to take this opportunity to vent for a second.  The job market in my current location is horrible for military spouses.  I called the base and they had one job opening that was located at a base 45 minutes away...ummm no thanks! I have looked online, in newspapers, made phone calls and nada.  I am open to most jobs however I know I would not find joy in working at Lowes, McDonalds, Loves Travel Stop or a cell phone company. And I do not want to substitute teach.  The school year is over but I don't like being the random teacher in the classroom that students think they can take advantage of (though they soon realize that is not an option).  So I have come to the realization that for now I am a housewife.  I guess I better get going on more cooking and craft projects!

I made dinner for the first time in a week or so last night because I was home in Maryland.  When I asked Fly Boy what he wanted he said, "Buffalo chicken pizza!" Of course that is what he wanted but that is not what I wanted! So I decided to make "Muffin Tin Mini Pizzas".  They came out really well.  I made three different kinds so it was a nice variety.

Ingredients:

1 pizza dough (either store bought or homemade)

sauce

toppings

cheese

Cut the pizza dough into 12 small squares and place them into a greased muffin tin. Try to stretch the dough up the sides of the tin a little bit.  Pre bake the dough for 5-7 minutes at about 400 degrees.  Take the pan out of the oven and add your toppings. I layered mine: meat/veggies, sauce then cheese.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

I made buffalo chicken pizzas, broccoli and chicken and salsa and chicken.

Spinach and Shrimp Quesadillas

This was super easy. 

Ingredients:

Frozen shrimp

1 package of frozen spinach

Cheese of your choice (I used mozzarella)

Any seasonings you would like to add (I used Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper)

Thaw the shrimp and the spinach according to the package directions.  Heat the shrimp and the spinach together in a skillet and season as desired.  Layer shrimp mixture and cheese on a tortilla and heat in a quesadilla maker or on a frying pan on medium heat until cheese is melted.

Texas Flour Tortillas

I have no clue how I found the blog called The Homesick Texan...I think it was when I was looking up recipes for Hello Dolly bars. Anyway, I browsed her recipes and saw she had some for corn an flour tortillas so I kept that mental note (which now I could just pin on Pinterest!). Tonight I wanted to make spinach and shrimp quesadillas (which I did and will post the recipe for that too) but we were out of tortillas (I bought 20 a week ago. We have a problem.) So I looked up the recipe and got to work. 

Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)

Ingredients:

Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.

Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes.


After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter.  Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry iron skillet heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.

Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.


Go here to check out the Homesick Texan blog!

Dress Re-Purpose

Do you ever look at something you purchased in the past and think "What was I thinking?" This happens to me every now and then but since I have started blog stalking I have kept some of these items in hopes that I will find another use for them.  In my Pinterest obsession I have seen several tutorials for skirts like this or this. Then I remembered that while I was cleaning out my closet before we moved to Texas I set aside a purple jersey dress that I purchased several years ago.  I thought to myself "Why have a kept this?" and then remembered that I met my husband wearing the dress so I wasn't ready to get rid of it.  Anyway, this dress was perfect for a re purpose!

So let's not judge here...I like the color and it was super comfy. The neckline was cute and it tied in the back. But what in the world is going on with the gems in the middle?  So here is what I did. I cut off the top and cut off the gems.

Then I decided to cut off the layer of fabric that the gems were attached to because it was the texture of  a ribbon..  I turned the band that was left into the skirt and then I sewed it down. Now since I have never sewn jersey material before and I was having to turn the skirt the finished band is a bit ruched by accident.  However, once you have on a shirt with the skirt you really can't tell.

So here is my final skirt and my toes. I swore they were not in the picture when I took it.  The skirt goes to my knees and that is perfect for me because this is a lounging skirt so longer is good for couch sitting.  I am wearing it down with a white tank top.

I kept the ties from the back of the dress, the sleeves and yes even those gems. I will find something to do with them!

Menu Board

I have a new obsession...it is called Pinterest and it is addicting.  You sign up for the website and you can tag anything online onto your Pinterest page.  They categorize your pins so you can have fashion pins, DIY pins, quilt pins etc. I like it to catalogue crafts I want to do or clothes I want.  In my pinning I came across a menu planner that Emily pinned.  I have a ton of extra picture frames sitting around so I went to the office, got a piece of scrapbook paper and cut it to the frame size.  I made days of the week labels in word and printed them along with the word MENU. I cut it all out and pasted it on the scrapbook paper.  Then I connected an overhead marker from my teaching supply box with some ribbon and hung the menu board in my kitchen. Eventually I want to hot glue magnets on the menu board and put it on the fridge.  Sorry for the poor quality picture but my phone camera flash was reflecting off of the glass.  PS if you have a circut or silhouette this would come out much nicer I am sure.

Feta Stuffed Chicken

I got this recipe in an email from Better Homes and Gardens. It came from Diabetic Living Online. It was really good. I did not have tomato basil feta so I added basil and some tomato paste to the cheese mixture.  I just used frozen spinach and I made garlic mashed potatoes to go with it.  Fly Boy ate 4 of the 6 chicken breasts that I made.

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	2 tablespoons fat-free cream cheese (1 ounce) 1/4  cup crumbled basil-and-tomato feta cheese (1 ounce)*
	4  skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 pounds total)
	1/4 teaspoon black pepper
	Dash salt
	1 teaspoon olive oil or cooking oil
	1/4 cup chicken broth
	10-ounce package prewashed fresh spinach, trimmed (8 cups)
	2 tablespoons walnut or pecan pieces, toasted
	tablespoon lemon juice
	Lemon slices, halved (optional)

1. In a small bowl combine feta cheese and cream cheese; set aside. Using a sharp knife, cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff pockets with the cheese mixture. If necessary, secure openings with wooden toothpicks. Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt.
2. In a large nonstick skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat about 12 minutes or until tender and no longer pink, turning once (reduce heat to medium if chicken browns too quickly). Remove chicken from skillet. Cover and keep warm.
3. Carefully add chicken broth to skillet. Bring to boiling; add half of the spinach. Cover and cook about 3 minutes or just until spinach is wilted. Remove spinach from skillet, reserving liquid in pan. Repeat with remaining spinach. Return all spinach to skillet. Stir in the nuts and lemon juice.
4. To serve, divide spinach mixture among 4 dinner plates. Top with chicken breasts. If desired, garnish with lemon slices. Makes 4 servings.

NOTE: I did not have tomato basil feta so I added a pinch or two of dried basil and a tbsp of tomato paste to the feta/cream cheese mixture.  Also I baked my chicken instead of pan frying at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

Another food blog I like to check out is Kaitlin In The Kitchen. She always has really good recipes on her blog.  I had a major sweet tooth the other day and decided to make these blondies/brownies.  I don't have a picture because Fly Boy ate the entire pan in one day!

Ingredients:

1 1/3 Cups Packed Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Butter or Margarine, melted

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter or margarine, peanut butter, vanilla, and eggs until well blended. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Spread batter into a greased pan and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Who Knew I Could Kind of Paint?

A few weeks ago, shortly after moving to South Texas, my neighbor and I were talking about things to do in the area and she mentioned there was a painting studio that you can go to where they teach you how to paint a picture step by step.  You also get to drink while you do this! We decided to sign up for one of the classes. In the class we learned how to paint a fancy cross.  I, of course, had to paint mine just like the example because thinking of out the box when it comes to painting just isn't my thing.  Considering I have zero painting talent I was fairly happy with how my picture turned out. 

The reason we decided to do the cross was to get practice for a spouses club social we had for the month of May.  Last night we went back to the studio for a private party and had an artist teach us how to paint a T45.  I was nervous because I wasn't sure I could actually get it to look like an air plane.  I had a bit of help from the instructor with the body of the plane and I only painted one wing wrong so I was proud of myself!

A Fly Boy Feature: Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

As most of you may know "Fly Boy" is my husband and he does not cook! I finally told him he had to make dinner at least once a week. While this recipe does not count as dinner, he was so proud of himself he asked me to post it on my blog. I thought that was cute so I told him I would do a Fly Boy feature anytime he made something new and blog worthy!

Let me give you a little bit of ice cream background about our families.  In my family my Granny always had Cookies and Cream ice cream and ice cream sandwiches.  She would offer it to you any time of day...after breakfast, lunch or dinner! My parents always have at least three or four half gallons of ice cream in the freezer and usually my  mom has a bowl every night. I worked in an ice cream store in high school and my little sister spent a few summers working at another local ice cream joint. Now I thought that having ice cream for dessert with breakfast was a sure sign of ice cream lovers until I met my husband's family.

I thought my family ate a lot of ice cream but when I met Fly Boy I realized I was wrong. He will eat an entire container in one sitting.  Ice cream is a side dish to every dessert.  When asked if you want cake it appears with ice cream even though there was no mention of ice cream. His grandma always has 5 or six different flavors in her house. We don't buy ice cream now that we are married because it does not last more than a day.

So a few days ago we returned some dishes to Bed, Bath and Beyond and had a ton of left over store credit.  In my blog stalking I have seen a lot of recipes for ice cream and I thought it would be fun to have an ice cream maker so we could make our own flavors.  We purchased the maker and Fly Boy was itching so bad to make some ice cream that he made it at 10:00 one night.  I was impressed with the outcome. 

The ice cream directly out of the ice cream maker has more of a milk shake consistency but if you put it in a container and freeze it, it comes out pretty much like store bought ice cream.  Fly Boy made this Chocolate Mint Ice cream and I was impressed.  It does melt fairly fast as you can see in the picture below. 

Be sure to read the directions that come with your ice cream maker before starting.  Ours you have to freeze the bucket for about 12 hours.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup chocolate syrup
3 tbsp sugar
3 cups  heavy cream
1 tsp mint extract
1 cup chocolate candies (we just used chocolate chips)

In a mixing bowl, combine the first three ingredients until sugar is dissolved.  Add the heavy cream and mint.  Pour into ice cream maker and mix for 20-25 minutes.  Five minutes before the mixing is complete, add the chocolate candies. Place mixture in an air tight container and freeze for at least two hours.

Mexican Pasta Bake

I got this recipe idea from my friend Emily's blog.  I had a few extra things in the cabinet that I wanted to use up so I made some changes to the original recipe and it actually came out really good!

1 lb ground beef
1/2 pound pasta (I used bow tie)
2 tbsp mined onion
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
1/2 can enchilada sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix OR chili powder and red pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup crushed tortilla chips

Cook the ground beef and the minced onion. Drain any excess grease from the pan.

At the same time, boil your pasta and drain.

When the ground beef is finished cooking add the corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce, seasonings and salt and pepper.

Mix the ground beef mixture into the pasta.  If you want it more saucy then add more enchilada sauce.

Pour the pasta/ground beef mixture into a casserole dish. Top with cheese and crushed chips. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

NOTE: I did not use all of the ground beef mixture with my pasta. I saved some of it for tacos.

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

We went to an Easter Potluck and I had to find something I could make and that would stay warm while we were at church.  I was going to make mashed potato casserole but then I saw this recipe on the blog I was looking at and decided it was the next best thing.  It was quick, easy and I had all of the ingredients on hand.  This recipe is from www.allrecipes.com and The Girl Who Ate Everything.

4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped onion (I used 2 1/2 tbsp mined onion)
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1 cup diced cooked ham

1/2 cup corn
3 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups milk


Directions:
1.Combine the potatoes, onion, carrot, corn, ham and chicken broth in a pot. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender for about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper.

2. In a another saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick for about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk and continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick for about 4 to 5 minutes.

3.Stir the milk mixture into the pot and cook soup until heated through.

Top with cheddar cheese and bacon if desired.
 
Makes 6 servings
 

German Spaghetti

Many, many moons ago when I was an ice cream scooper at a Western theme park (that is not a lie) I had this wonderful spaghetti at an employee dinner. I had never had anything like it! I was looking in a church cookbook from my church in Maryland and wouldn't you know there was the recipe for German Spaghetti! I didn't follow the recipe exactly but I was happy with the result!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb spaghetti noodles
1 can tomato soup
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (or more if you like cheese!)
12 pieces of bacon

Boil the noodles according to the directions on the package. At the same time, cook your bacon. I used the precooked bacon that you just have to microwave for 45 seconds or so.

When the bacon is cooled, crumble it up.

When the noodles are finished cooking, drain them and return them to the pot.  Add the cheese, soup and bacon bits to the noodles and stir until the cheese is melted. 
You may need to turn the burner back on low to help melt the cheese.

I like German Spaghetti to not have a lot of extra sauce but if you want more sauce just add 1 more can of soup and some more cheese.

Hello Dolly Bars

A few years ago, my roommate made these bars around Easter time and they were super yummy. I for the life of me could not remember the name of them other than they had some woman's name in the title. Then in my blog stalking I notice that Life as a Lofthouse had posted a recipe for Hello Dolly Bars. That was the name! So I checked out the recipe and notice the bars had coconut and nuts in them.  Well Fly Boy won't eat those things so for a few weeks I tried to decide if I should just make them with the nuts and coconut and gain 50 lbs eating them alone or figure out if there were some suitable substitutes.  So what I decided was to leave out the coconut and nuts and replace  those with just one ingredient: heath bar pieces. So I made Hello Dollys my way and you may go into a sugar coma after eating a piece but boy are they good!

1 stick of butter
8 graham crackers crushed
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup heath bar pieces OR (1 cup chopped nuts and 1 cup coconut)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and then place the stick of butter in an 8x8 pan and put it in the oven for five minutes to melt the butter. Remove pan from oven.

Spread the graham cracker crumbs over the melted butter. Layer the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, heath bar (or coconut and nuts) on top of the graham cracker crust.

Pour the condensed milk over the top of the candies and bake for 25 minutes or until the condensed milk it bubbly and the center of the bars is set.

NOTE: If you use nuts and coconut your layers should be butter, graham crackers, nuts, choc chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, condensed milk (in that order).

Oh and Fly Boy liked the bars so much he asked me if I wanted some Dolly Partons to eat. I told him there were no big boobs in that pan at all :-)

Nautical Wooden Flag

Do you ever get house envy? I have a major case of it.  It is hard to move around every 6 months to a year and never feel settled in your house.  I see tons of blogs, magazines, TV shows on a daily basis that give me major house envy but there is one that literally makes me green.  Meet The Lettered Cottage and their reading room redo, or before and after pictures of several rooms in their house.  I love it.  White, clean, nautical, beachy, decorated but not overdone. 

How did I find this blog which led to my house envy you may ask?  I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs/websites (u-createcrafts.com) and I was in love. I found that post months ago and I finally created my wooden nautical flag today.  My living room is beach themed in honor of Maryland, my home state. 

But if you know me, you know I like short cuts because I do not like things that take a lot of effort. A few weeks ago my husband made our TV console and we had some extra plywood left over.  I had him cut a piece of that for me and used that to make my flag, instead of buying individual boards, painting them and then screwing them together (too much work!).

So here is what I did:

First I painted the entire board white. I used three coats of white that was watered down a little bit with water.

Then I used tape to set up where I wanted the stripes. I put down three pieces of tape and then removed the middle piece so that the white space was showing. I did this up the entire board. I painted the white sections with two coats of aqua/grey paint. I used two parts aqua and one part grey.  I removed the tape and let it dry.  The blue bled out in some places so I just used a Q Tip and went over those spots with white paint.

I then used some sandpaper and distressed the blue stripes in some places. Then I hot glued on 9 starfish. I like the white starfish from the original blog but I think the orange ones stand out more and that is what they had at Hobby Lobby.

And there is my flag! My flag has more stripes than the original because the tape I had was 2.5 inches wide. Maybe one day I will get my cameras working since all of my blogs since March have used pictures taken with my phone!

Reversible Headband!

Raise your  hand if you have a big ol' Irish head?! ME! I cannot wear headbands at all.  I wanted to be cool a few years ago and wear the Under Armour elastic headbands when I went to the gym or when I had my hair in a ponytail and they just didn't stay on my head.  In my blog stalking I have seen a lot of headbands but I just don't think I can pull off the whole headband with huge flowers on it.

So I decided to try and make this braided headband and it came out OK but I wasn't in love. (I did cut apart and Under Armour headband to use for the elastic!) So then I decided I would make my own, reversible headband and I did and it came out very perfect for me and my big head!

You need:
- two pieces of different patterned material cut 2 1/2 inches by 20 inches
- 5 inch piece of elastic

1. Sew the two pieces of material with right sides together on the long ends only and start about a half inch down on the long side and stop half of an inch before you reach the end.

2. Turn your strip so the right sides are facing out.

3. Place the elastic about an inch into one of the open ends of the strip. Fold the material down into the inside the strip and then sew in place.

4. Top stitch around the entire headband with about a 1/4 or smaller seam allowance. Do not top stitch the open end of the strip.  Since one side of my headband was black and the other a whitish I put black thread in the top of the machine and white thread in the bottom and stitched with the black material facing up. I am not sure if that is common practice but it made sense to me!

5. Wrap the headband around your head and figure out how much give you need in your elastic to make the headband stay on your head...I needed two inches.

6. Place the other end of the elastic into the open end of the strip until you have the length of elastic showing that you need for stretching (two inches for me).

6. Turn the ends of the strip in and sew. 

Mail Organizer

A long time ago I bought a book called One Yard Wonders and planned to make everything in it as soon as I got it.  However, I ended up getting a job in Okie so that did not happen.  Since moving to South Texas I have gotten back into learning how to sew.  My friend Emily made these mail organizers from the book back in the fall and I thought they were a great idea to have to keep the papers off of the counter. I don't want to violate any copyright laws here so I will just tell you the basics of the project.

You need:

-One yard of fabric.

- Cut eight 13X11 inch sections out of the fabric.

- Sew two together with right sides together but just sew the two short sides and one long side. (Do this four times)

- Turn one right side out and put another inside of it with wrong sides together.

- Fold down the top, raw edge and top stitch.

- Add loops for hanging as desired.  I used two short straps with D rings attached.

Nursing Cover/Hooter Hider

My very best friend had a baby last week and it kills me that I am thousands of miles away from her.  When I found out she was pregnant I looked up patterns for nursing covers. I got the idea to make one when I was at a work cookout a few years ago and was sitting next to a fellow teacher who was using a nursing cover and I thought it was such a great idea. 

In my blog stalking  I came across and reversible nursing cover pattern that seemed fairly simple.  I finally decided to get going on it after we moved to South Texas so I headed to Hobby Lobby and tried to pick out some material. I am not sure if it was me or Hobby Lobby or what but I think I was in there for an hour trying to figure out what two materials to buy.  I decided on a brown and white polka dot for one side and a bluish/brownish floral/paisley for the other.  This way it wasn't super girly or boyish.


Now I have sewn like one other thing ever so I was a bit nervous during the entire process.  Here is what I learned:

- I hate pinning. It takes so long BUT is sure does help.
- My friend Emily's mom suggested putting a piece of tape on the machine at where you want your seams and this was a life saver.
- I am not that great at top stitching.

The only problems I had were that I accidentally sewed the entire cover together, wrong sides out, and then realized I hadn't turned it right sides out yet.  That was an easy fix.  Also, I tested and tested my tension and stitch length a million times and somehow in some places my bottom stitch has this weird looking loopy thing going on...I say it adds character! Finally, it is just sewn funky in one place.

Overall I will call this one a success!! I am thinking the last thing on my friend's mind will be evaluating my sewing skills while breastfeeding.  And to my next friend who gets pregnant...maybe yours will be more perfect!!

You can find the directions for the nursing cover on Make It and Love It!

Chicken Mac and Cheese

This recipe was super easy and super yummy! I used pre cooked chicken so I started with the second step in the directions.  This recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens.

1 pound skinless, boneless, chicken breast

1  to 2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

Salt and ground black pepper

1  tablespoon  olive oil

8 ounces dried pasta

1  medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3  tablespoons  butter

3  tablespoons all-purpose flour

2  tablespoons tomato paste

3 cups milk

8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)

Salt and ground black pepper

2 cups  soft sourdough or French bread crumbs

2 ounces finely shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese (1/2 cup)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Cut chicken into pieces. In a large skillet cook chicken, Italian or desired seasoning blend, salt, and pepper in hot oil over medium heat. Remove chicken from skillet; set aside.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions until just tender. Drain; return pasta to pot.

3. Cook onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons hot butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in flour until well combined. Stir in tomato paste. Add milk. Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Add the shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is almost melted. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add sauce and chicken to cooked pasta in pot; stir to coat. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart square or rectangular baking dish.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle crumb mixture over pasta mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until crumb mixture is golden and edges are bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Find the recipe here: Better Homes and Gardens

Mod Podge Easter Eggs

While the kid in me still loves to dye Easter Eggs it just seems like such a waste of time, money and eggs.  I saw this really neat idea on another blog called Tatertots and Jello where she mod podged strips of scrap booking paper to eggs. I used large plastic Easter Eggs that were a dollar for 6 eggs. Other suggestions I have seen on other blogs were to use wooden eggs, foam eggs or paper mache eggs.  The trick is to cut thin, short strips so that they lay nicely on the oval surface.  WARNING: Your hands will get super messy.  Basically put down a line of mod podge on the egg, lay the paper strip over the mod podge and then using a foam brush or your finger mod podge over the strip you just put down.

I poked out the bottoms of Styrofoam cups to let the eggs dry. You can see the extent of my Easter decorating in the second picture.  The subway art/word collage I found online here! So my Spring/Easter decor cost me a whole dollar, ok two dollars because I bought two packages of eggs!

Easy Shrimp Scampi

This recipe is from www.mccormick.com. It was really easy and not too rich. I actually used 1/2 lb of shrimp and had it over pasta and it was the perfect amount of sauce. I added broccoli too.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined 
1  green onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons white wine or 1 tablespoon lemon juice

 

 

1. Melt butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add shrimp, green onion, garlic, parsley and pepper; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in wine or lemon juice.

2. Serve over cooked orzo, pasta or rice, if desired

Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from www.ourbestbites.com and I found it in their published cook book.  These cookies were soooo good! I actually changed this around a little bit and put peanut butter in place of the coco powder and put in chocolate and white chocolate chips.

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 regular sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp coca powder (I used peanut butter)

1 cup peanut butter chips (I used chocolate)

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Cream butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Add peanut butter here if you use it.

2. In another bowl mix flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder if you didn't use peanut butter.

3. Mix in the chips.

4. Spoon out onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake 8-10 min at 350 degrees. 

Mod Podge Tile Coaster

We have been in South Texas for about three and a half weeks now and I am finally settling in.  A week or so ago my neighbor (a fellow Navy wife) came over and saved me from boredom.  We took a trip, actually several, to Hobby Lobby and got supplies to make these cute Mod Podge tile coasters.  They were quick, simple, easy, cheap and cute! After I made them I texted Emily right away to tell her about this simple and cute craft! I miss crafting with her!



Supplies:

Bone color tile from Lowes (19 cents a piece)

Mod Podge

Cocktail sized drink napkins

Glossy spray sealant (located in the same case as spray paint at Hobby Lobby)

Glue gun

cork backing

sponge brush

Directions:

1) Peel apart the layers of the napkin so you just have the top layer.

2) Cut a square out of the napkin that is big enough to cover the top and sides of the tile

3) Spread a layer of Mod Podge on the tile using a sponge brush

4) Carefully lay your napkin piece on the tile with little to no wrinkles

5) Let it set 5-10 minutes then dab another layer of Mod Podge on the top of the napkin and on the sides. (You may need to use your finger for the sides)

6) Let the tile sit over night and then spray with the sealant

7) Hot glue cork to the back of your tile

TIP: Cover your crafting table with newspaper and sit the tiles on plastic cups while Mod Podging and drying. ALSO, napkins with more color show fewer wrinkles!

Happy 100th Post! And a TV Stand

Today marks the 100th post of Sweet Successes and I wanted to make it a good one.  I wanted a post that was like no other and I waited a few days, skipped a few recipe blogs and now I get to share with you the latest Sweet Success in our family: a TV stand.

www.potterybarn.com

Isn't she pretty?  We were using a folding table for a TV stand so this is a vast improvement! Wait a minute, please don't tell me that you think we really spent $700 on a TV stand?  Ok, we didn't but is sure looks like we did.

On Saturday, Fly Boy wakes up and decides that he is ready to make something.  We went to the base to check out the wood shop, errrrr, ummmm, well what we found was  a rusted drill and some cobwebs so we are thinking they moved it? Any who, we venture on to Lowes with our TV Stand plans from www.ana-white.com and head to the lumber aisle and the adventure began.  We got the wood (after several arguments) and decided to have the nice young men at Lowes cut it for us. This was good and bad. It was 25 cents a cut, no big deal but some of their cuts were off.  So what we learned is have Lowes cut big pieces of wood like plywood that will not fit in the car and we will cut the rest!

So after a few more arguments (you'd have to understand how my dad feels about wood to have any insight into the arguments we had so I will spare you the details) we headed home, unloaded the car and Fly Boy started assembling.

The next day Fly Boy stained the TV Stand ANNNNNDDDDDDDDD.......drum roll please!

We have a TV stand!!! And I love it! If you love this as much as we do you can find the plans here! Fly Boy made a few discoveries in his adventure: A) We did not see where the 1x12@6ft went so we returned it and B) It seems that the 2 1x2@8ft is listed twice in the lumber list.

So I hope you have enjoyed and have been inspired by the 100th post of Sweet Successes and yes we are going to make more furniture for the living room!!!

PS- Lowes had a military discount and the nice young lady at the register gave us a $10 off coupon so this lovely piece of furniture cost a whopping $80, not $700.

Chicken Taquitos

I have a million recipe books and I just bought another one: Our Best Bites. I highly recommend it! They have a website too that I use. 

Last night I made their chicken taquitos but I had a few changes due to taste preferences and ingredients we had here at home.  THEY CAME OUT AMAZING!!!



Our Best Bites



1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese (I use light sour cream)
1/4 C green salsa (I use regular salsa)
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro (I used like 1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried cilantro)
2 T sliced green onions (I omitted)
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepper jack cheese
small corn tortillas or flour
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.


Directions are from Our Best Bites website.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I should call my blog "What Emily Makes" because I have been on a kick of just looking at her blog for recipes.  She always has yummy ones. Just in case you forgot, you can check out her blog here!

So I LOVE sweet and sour chicken from Chinese food places but I HATE all of the breading and gross chicken that you sometimes find.  Emily found this AMAZING recipe from another blog called
Life as a Lofthouse and it was better than sweet and sour chicken from a Chinese food place.

The chicken :

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup oil

 

Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

 

Rinse your chicken and then cut into cubes. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch and then dip into the eggs. 

 

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook chicken until browned but not cooked through.

 

Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish.

 

Mix all of your sauce ingredients in a bowl and then pour evenly over the chicken.

 

Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken
every 15 minutes.  

Asian Style Baby Back Ribs

I am not a huge fan of ribs because they are so fatty.  To this day my poor father (of three girls) painstakingly cuts every piece of fat off any cut of meat he makes.  He knows we won't eat it unless he does.  Well I don't live with my father now that I am married but I can guarantee my dad still cuts off the fat when I am home.  Now that I live with Fly Boy in South Texas (Fly Boy is from Texas) we eat meat. In fact last night we went to a BBQ place, ate our meat then went to Tractor Supply. How Texas is that? I just need some boots and a huge truck.

Anyway we were at the store and Fly Boy  picks up a huge chunk o' fatty meat and said he wanted it for dinner so I obliged.  This recipe was super easy and super yummy.  I found it at www.epicurious.com.

• 4 pounds country-style pork ribs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger (I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) (I used 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• Special equipment: an 11- by 17-inch flameproof roasting pan

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.  Sprinkle ribs evenly with salt.  Bring orange juice, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and pepper to a boil in roasting pan over moderately high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add ribs in 1 layer using tongs, turning to coat, and cover pan tightly with foil. Braise ribs in oven until very tender, about 2 hours.

Before serving:
               

 Reduce oven temperature to 200°F.Transfer ribs to a baking dish, arranging them in 1 layer, and keep warm in oven. Skim fat from cooking liquid if desired, then make glaze by boiling liquid, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Brush glaze generously on ribs.           

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

I love the website www.ourbestbites.com.  They just published a cookbook and I bought it even though I have a million cookbooks.  I made these before we moved to South Texas and they were yummy! I used their homemade pizza dough recipe too which was good. Check out their website for some yummy recipes!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Another Pizza Crust

I have not been blogging much in the last month but I have made a few new things that I would like to share. Please excuse the lack of pictures! I got this recipe from my friend Emily's blog.  The crust is really good.  I divided it in half and it made two medium sized pizzas. She got the recipe from Family Circle magazine.

1   cup  warm water (about 110 degrees F)
1   package (.25 ounce) dry active yeast
2-3/4     cups   all-purpose flour
1    teaspoon  sugar
1    teaspoon   salt
2   tablespoons   olive oil

1. Place water in a small bowl and stir in yeast. Let stand 5 minutes.


2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2-1/2 cups  of the flour, sugar and salt. Make well in the center and add the yeast  mixture and olive oil. Stir until dough comes together and forms a ball.  Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding as  much of the remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed. Form into a disk and  place in a bowl that has been lightly coated with olive oil. Turn disk  over and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place for  2 hours.


3. Remove dough from bowl and punch down. Roll out into desired diameter.