TuTu with PomPom wand

Another TuTu off to a new home. This one is precious pink.

I also remembered seeing these pompom wands once before so I thought I would give it a try. I think next time I'll make it a little smaller. This one is kinda gigantic in comparison to the little person I was making it for.

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of my creations just e-mail me at
Sunkistmk@gmail.com

Bella Bites

Officially these are called "cake balls" but since I made them to celebrate the DVD release of Twilight I thought the other name fit better. I also like to call them "Cake Truffles".

I cant take credit for these either. They are actually from Bakerella but I followed the instructions from Pioneer Woman at this link.

I'll have to admit I'm almost sad to share this because any who have tasted these will now know my secret!

Its pretty simple really- just a boxed cake mix, baked as directed. Then I let it cool overnight, crumble it up in a bowl and mix in a container of cream cheese frosting. As you can tell already, this is not a light dessert!

Then I just rolled it into balls and dipped in chocolate to finish them off.

YUM!!!!

Chicken Crescent Rolls

As promised- I present the Chicken Crescent rolls.

I was actually quite proud of myself with this one because... dun dun dun... I DIDN'T follow the recipe. That's right, ME, the person who agonized over following instructions to the LETTER. I did not follow the recipe. I thought outside the box- HORRAY! I'm no longer a CYBORG!

OK- it really wasn't that big of a deal. I'm thinking this was kind of a fool proof meal to begin with. I couldn't have screwed it up if I had tried.

Here's the recipe as was given to me if anyone wants to try it:
Filling:
1 package Cream Cheese
2 diced green onions
2 cups cubed chicken
1 cup drained sliced mushroom.
Outside:
1/4 cup butter
Corn Flake Crumbs

Last time we made this (sans onions and mushroom per hubby request) it was a touch on the WAY TO RICH side for us. Though it may have been because it was missing half the ingredients. Anyhow! This time, I tried to think of something to tone it down so I used:

1/2 package of cream cheese
1/2 cup light mayo (we're trying to be somewhat healthy here)
1 can of cubed chicken
a bunch (that means I'm not sure how much) of finely chopped broccoli- I used my food processor. I LOVE that thing!
Oh- and just for fun I added some italian seasoning. Figured it couldn't hurt.

The outside was the same- Dip in Butter then roll in crunched up corn flakes.
Then

Ahhhh! Aren't they pretty? I'm not sure you can tell but I love cooking on my pizza stone. Everything seems to turn out perfect. It may seem unorthodox to cook on a round pan when one isn't cooking anything round but... I'm NO LONGER A CYBORG! Remember?

Besides- I'm too cheap to go out and by another stone pan if this one works just fine.

NOW- question for the bakers out there, how does one create crescent rols that actually still look like crescent rolls when you pull them out of the oven? Mine always puff up and look all funky. Especially with the corn flakes all skewompus.

For the gravy I used my Magic Mix from earlier but instead of water I used the broth from the can of chiken. Yum! It was so easy and perfect! Though if you are following the recipe:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

It's still really yummy I just was trying to be frugal and use only what I had on hand.

Now, I'm always looking for ways to improve and I actually found the crescents were a little limiting. I could only get a small amount of filling in them. Maybe I just don't know how to make crescents. Either way I though: you don't see filled crescent rolls at the grocery store in the frozen foods isle. They just have those big round things- so why not! This was great. I was able to get a ton of yummy filling in AND it didn't end up looking all funky after it was cooked. It's just a rectangle rolled up and instead of a triangle. So, unless I learn a new technique for Crescents I think I'll just do this from now on.

Question: since I'm using an entirely different filling AND rolling into a roundish something or other, I guess it's no longer the Chicken Crescent Rolls recipe I started with. What should I call this concoction?

Refrigerator Rolls- from Tami

I've been meaning to post this for a while (sorry Tami). Things have just been a bit crazy and I've not been the best at keeping up with my planned posts here.

This is a great recipe that my Grandma actually used to make for us. It's a great way to make a simple dinner seem fantastic. Especially if you have some really good gravy to soak up with your roll. Here's the rundown...

First we disolved 1 tablespoon of yeast in 2 tablespoons of warm water (top left in pic)

Then we have:
Yeast mixture
2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour (to begin with- 3 more for later)


After mixing the first ingredients add:
3 remaining cups of flour
3/4 cups melted butter.

I like to alternate the butter and the flour a little at a time so you don't get a big ::POOF!:: when you turn on the mixer.

You can use more or less flour to get the right consistency- so it's pulling from the sides of the mixer as shown here.

Last- cover and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. I didn't make it to that point though- if you do, back at 350 for 15-20 minutes. This can be used for all kinds of different rolls- crescent, orange, dinner, the favorite Cinnamon Roll- you can get really creative here. If I remember right, I think my grandma used to make crescent rolls and freeze them before she baked them. She put them in little plasic bags so we could just pull out a few at a time , let them raise and bake them up for hot fresh rolls whenever we wanted them. They were fantastic.

I only let it raise a few hours this time then used it in my dinner recipe: Chicken Crescent rolls, Coming SOON!

Fan-cy!

Since the in-laws were here I just had to take advantage of my mother-in-law's mad crafting skills. I had a baby shower on Saturday and I had some ideas of what to make for my friend but I thought this was so much cuter!

These are actually not the ones I gave away. I put together a pink and purple set instead but I still thought these were pretty fun.

Ahhh... I remember the days. Dancing around in my fancy socks. Listening to the beads clickety clicking away.

Isn't it just a little funny that all of my fun creations are for little girls and all I have is a boy? Poor kid- I made him model my last tutu. I'd better not push it by sticking these babies on him.

These will be for sale also. Once I figure out how I'm going to market myself. Any one have a little girl who might want to dance around in my creations? Someone I can live vicariously through? Pass them my name will ya?

SOLD!

I sold a tutu on craigslist! Horray!

It was for a 10 month old who is getting her pictures taken. This is the finished product. I'm pretty proud. I think it's pretty darn cute and I'm hoping they will pass the word around so that I can get some more interest. Word of mouth is the best sales tool right?

Finished!

I was a little nervous about how I would do completing these cards for the swap tomorrow night. But, I surprised myself. I always tend to be a procrastinator. This time, I paced myself. I set daily goals, planned, simplified and TA DA! I did it. I have 18 cards ready to go and I am really excited about them. I think they turned out really well.

Magic Mix- premade white sauce

What is the key step in so many fantastic recipies?
WHITE SAUCE
So, when I found this little trick on Everyday Food Storage- I was pretty excited to try it out.
She calls it Magic Mix. I'll be honest- I havn't actually tried it yet but I made it today and I plan on using it with dinner tonight.
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup all purpose flour (she says it has to be all purpose)
1 cup margarine or butter (2 sticks- NOT spread)

Now, on her site she said to have the butter at room temperature but I had some trouble with my mix being too soft . You should be able to just mix it up and it will end up being kind of a corn meal texture.

Mine turned into a dough instead so I put it back in the freezer for a little bit then threw it into my food processor to break it down to the powder.

I had some fun with it- I even modge-podged an empty baby cereal container to keep it in.

How cute!

Here's the finished product.

To make a white sauce you just use

2/3 cup of Magic Mix

1 cup water

Put it in a sauce pan and heat on medium while wisking briskly till it starts to bubble.

You can even freeze it or keep it in the fridge for 6 months.

Card Swap Decision

I mentioned before that I had joined a card swapping group and I was getting ready for our first swap. Well, it's coming up so I had to make a decision.

The theme: Special Occasion (so the card I made before wouldn't work)
The # of girls- 16! I needed a card that was fairly quick to make

Here's what I've come up with so far.


I wanted to make a fairly generic card- one that could be used for lots of different occasions because I'm not too very confident in my card making skills yet and I didn't want them stuck with an ugly Father's day card that they would never use. This way- they can congratulate someone they may not know very well if it's not their favorite card.

The decision I need to make now is

Ladybug or No Ladybug

What do you think?

Valentine's Dessert

Jason's favorite dessert is Strawberry Shortcake- perfect for Valentine's Day
Once again I'm really not too very original. I turned to the old standby- bisquick!

I'm going to have to start making my own. I actually did find a recipie for premaking a baking mix. I think it's a great idea and I'll have to post it here but for now- just substitue what ever baking mix you prefer.

2 1/3 cup "baking mix" aka Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter or margarine

Mix everything into a soft dough. Then spoon it out onto an ungreased pan. The instructions I have say to do 6 spoonfuls. Usually we just put it into a 9x9 square pan as one big cake. This time though, I borrowed a cookie cutter from a friend and formed individual heart shaped cakes.

Preheat oven to 450 and cook 10 minutes or until browned-

Now, I always have to have some sort of "duh" moment in my cooking- you'll get to know that. This one: make sure the oven is completely heated BEFORE putting the cakes in. Otherwise you'll burn the bottoms.

Yes, our bottoms were burned. (lol!!)

Finally, top with sugared strawberries and whipped cream- YUM!!!

Tutu-Treat

This is my most recent creation.

I know- I am the mother of one BOY- still, a girl has got to get some frills in sometime right?

I'm hoping to get into some craft fairs or something and try to sell these babies. It's something that I can do while I'm hangin' with Zack so I hope it works out. I know there are fancier versions- but I'm all for simplicity. Pass the word around if anyone knows someone who does have a little girl. ; )

Then I can live vicariously through them.

Card Swap

I recently joined a card swapping group. I've never really been into cards- making or giving- so it's kinda new to me. But, I thought it would be a good chance for me to meet some new people and I'd like to get into the habit of using cards as well.

Now, me and creativity don't really mesh too well. On the other hand, me and copy cat-ing are actually quite good pals. SO, this is actually a bit of a stretch for me.

I'm going out of my comfort zone. I'm trying to make new friends, I'm creating something of my own. Eeeeek! I'm out on a limb so I need some reassurance.

Here is my first idea for my cardYou may not be able to tell from the pic but the "SPRING" is embossed. It's nothing fancy and to be honest, I'm not sure when or where a person might actually use this type of card but I had limited resources so this is what I came up with.

What do you think? (if there really are people who look at this thing)

Stuffed Crust Pizza

Yesterday I met a few of my girlfriends at the mall to let our kids play together and give us moms a chance to wind down. While we were there someone started talking about homemade pizza and I've been craving it ever since.

I actually had heard of doing stuffed crust a while back and so I just had to give it a try.

Once more, here's our cast of characters:

For the dough:

*2 Tbsp yeast

*1 cup warm water

*3 tsp sugar

*1 tsp salt

*2 Tbsp oil

*2 1/2 cups flour (+ or -)

Can you tell from the picture I shop in bulk- who would EVER go through that much salt in thier lifetime right?

Then we have the toppings:

I'm not saying thses are the brands that must be used but they happened to be what I had on hand. You could even make your own pizza sauce, I have a recipie, but.... why?

Also- I left out some slices of mozzarella cheese that should have been in this picture. SORRY!

Start with disolving the yeast in the warm water then add all the ingredients but the flour. Finally, add the flour and knead it till its a nice smooth ball. You can add a bit of flour if you need to. You don't want it to be too sticky. That makes laying it all out on the pan a huge hassle.

Let it rise for 10 min- 1 hour. I always end up going for the 10 minute route and it seems to work fine.

While the dough is rising get you pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

I like to use the pizza stone because everything cooks so evenly but it's kinda a pain to get the crust onto the stone- to remedy that. I also use a non-stick pizza pan with holes. Maybe it's a bit redundant but it seems to work great.

After risen, shmoosh the dough into the pan and arrange long pieces of mozzarella cheese around the edge. The original recipie I found said to use string cheese. I just didn't have any on hand.

Seal the cheese in around the edges and poke the dough to keep it from bubbling.

Cook the crust for 7-10 minutes or until it starts to brown. I left it in the full 10 and it was a bit too long. This is an example of a tad TOO done.

Now, the fun part. Add your sauce and toppings.

Bake again for 10 minutes and Enjoy!

Ratings from the hubby were fairly good. Though, I do think that string cheese would work better. My pieces were too small and most of the cheese leaked out leaving an empty hole. Sometimes we'd get a piece where it was still nice and gewy and that was fantastic. So, bottom line, it definately has potential I just need to fine tune it.

Dessert Failure!

You know what really hits the spot when you want a treat but don't really want to slave over a hot stove all day? No-Bake Cookies!

Sadly, I have not yet mastered the art of creating good, creamy no-bake cookies. Here was my attempt last night.

Cast of Characters: (according to recipie #1)

*2 cups sugar (holy moly- don't tell my dentist)

*1/2 cup butter (or my weight loss coach- if I had one)

*1/2 cup milk

*4 tsp cocoa

*2 cups oats

*1/2 cup peanut butter

*1 tsp vanilla

The instructions in my book were as follows:

Put sugar, butter, milk and cocoa in saucepan and bring to good boil. (and I took the "good boil" literally, this may have been my mistake)

P.S. this pic is before the cocoa was added. The one with the cocoa showed too much of my dirty stovetop and I want to all to think I'm perfect. (ha ha ha- laughing histerically)

Then add the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla.

*again the vanilla shot showed my stovetop. yuk!

Mix well and drop onto waxed paper or a greased cookie sheet.

Ummm.....considering these "cookies" actually needed to be eaten with a SPOON! I don't think it worked right.

Still, I refused to give up. I hopped on the internet and searched for a new recipie to see what I could have done wrong. I found one that called for 3 cups of oatmeal instead of 2. So I thought I would try to rescue the cookies.

I added some oatmeal.

Now it started to somwhat resemble the no-bake cookies in my memory.

See, no spoon required!

Sadly, they were only pretending to be no-bake cookies. The creamy gooeyness just wasn't there. They were powdery and crumbly. Now, I know it's not just me who has failed at these decievingly simple treats. I confirmed this same dilemma occured on multiple occasions for a friend of mine here in WI.

But WHY!!!!!!???!!!

Oh Dear....:::sigh:::

Alas, I was sorely disappointed last night and had to resort to a granola bar for my sweet fix. Maybe it's for the best considering I'm supposedly on a "diet".

Fried Rice

When requesting this dish always make sure you are running it together really fast with a slight turn of the "R" like this... frydrys. Got it? Good.

So, for my first food post you will see just how simple my style of cooking is. Maybe as I continue the blog we will be able to branch out a bit but for now... Wha! La! This is a beginner's recipie blog FOR SURE!

The ingredients:

*RICE- of course

*Half cube of Butter or Oil- I tend to lean towards the butter side, always!

*Peas- preferrably frozen in available

*Scrambled eggs- about 4

*Cubed ham

*Any and all other crazy things happen to sound yummy at the time.. ex: sprouts, water chestnuts, green onions, etc. etc. etc.

I, unfortunately didn't have any of the optional ingredients, heck, I didn't even have frozen peas. SO, we do what we can right? That's the great thing about this recipie, you can always make it work with whatever happens to be on hand.

Step one- Cook the rice

If you are a super beginner cook like myself you will mix up the 2:1 ratio for the rice, end up with scorched rice and start over again. I don't recommend it because your hubby might have to call his mom to laugh about it at your expense. That's all right, it's all in good fun with "frydrys".

Step two- Add rice to melted butter and start to fry, adding ingredients as you see fit.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with soy sauce and ENJOY!

P.S. I'm not lovin' the picture today. Canned peas not only lack the nice flavor of frozen, but they also lack color- makes for kind of a dull shot. Just pretend there are happy, bright green peas in there and it will look much more appetizing.

WELCOME!

Since I've become a stay at home mom, I've decided to take on some new learning opportunies. I've always been excited by new things so this blog is my venue to learning my latest skill- Cooking! (With a little photography included)

When I first married my husband seven years ago I had ZERO I mean ZERO skill in the kitchen. I was known to burn everything- including just plain water. I was also quoted to have said "you can make pancakes without bisquik?" and will never live it down. However, now that I have 2 mouths to feed in addition to my own, my own kitchen and a computer full of cooking tips I am ready to tame the beast of Man's hunger.

We do face some dietary ristrictions that have become a challenge to cooking so this will be an adventure. For those of you who visit this blog you may notice a lack of onions, peppers, pinapple, and a few otherwise widely used ingredients. Just so you know, it's on purpose.

SO, without further adieu- WELCOME and Enjoy!