Christmas Crafts

While this blog is dedicated to recipe trials and tribulations, I also love to craft.  Over my break, I made a few things in my mother's kitchen.  So, I decided they were qualified to be included.
The first of my crafts were wreaths that I gave as gifts.  So easy and so cute!

Materials needed:

• foam wreath
• yarn or ribbon of your choice
• tacky glue
• hot glue gun
• fabric of your choice

What you do:

1. Wrap the foam wreath with yarn or ribbon, using tacky glue sporadically to hold in place.

The Fast Grab is a must!

2.  Cut fabric one yard in length and anywhere from one inch to four inches in width, depending on how big you want the rosette to be.  

3. Fold the fabric in half (hot dog style).

4. Roll the fabric to create a center anywhere from four to seven times, using a little Tacky Glue to keep the fabric in place.

5. Twist the fabric as you wrap it around the folded center that you created.  Make sure to tacky here and there along the way! Wrap the fabric tightly so the rosette stays together.

Don't worry, the Tacky Glue dries clear.

6. Hot glue all the rosettes you created onto the wreath.

I also made a wreath for my grandmother who has a bit of a country style.

This craft was a lot of fun and super easy to make.  These best part:  it can totally be customized for the person you are making it for.

Suddenly...Chicken Pasta

My mom has been making an awesome chicken pasta for a few years.  She makes a big batch and everybody eats on it for days.  Did I mention it's awesome?

What you need:

3-5 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Bottle teriyaki sauce
Montreal seasoning
2 Boxes Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Pasta Classic
1 Bag pepperonis
1 Small bottle Italian dressing
1 Cup mayonaise
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

What you do:

Marinade the chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce for a few hours (I prefer overnight). Season chicken breasts with Montreal seasoning and grill.  Cut chicken and pepperoni into small pieces.

Boil pasta and drain.

Mix mayonnaise,  one seasoning packet from Suddenly Salad box, sugar and milk.

Mix pasta, chicken, pepperoni and mayonaise mixture together.  Add Italian dressing to moisten pasta to taste.

I like to add feta cheese to mine before eating.

Enjoy!

The Whole Enchilada

Enchilada casserole is something I've been making for  many years.  I first picked it up from my Aunt Cathy, who is quiet the Mexican food expert.  Aunt Cathy does a much better job with this recipe, as mine never seems to taste the same each time around.  It is one of the most simple recipes, most casseroles are though.

So, what do you need?

1 lb.  ground beef (I substitute turkey - I don't care for red meat)
1 package taco seasoning
10 oz. enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese
4-6 tortilla shells

That's it...really.

You will find that I am pretty plain when it comes to food.  I'm not into onions, peppers, mushrooms or anything of the sort.  I usually leave those things out of any recipe I make.  However, if you're into onions and peppers, I'm sure they would be great in this casserole.  Some other things that would be a hit in this recipe: chorizo, salsa, chiles and the list continues.

Back to my plain ol' casserole. Here's what you do:

Brown the ground beef (or turkey), drain and mix in taco seasoning.  Layer the ingredients in a casserole dish.  Tonight I did: ground turkey, enchilada sauce, cheese, tortilla shell, turkey, sauce, shell, sauce, cheese.  I switch it up every time.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

That's it...really.

I usually serve the casserole with sour cream and Spanish rice, but again, that's up to you!

This is a perfect casserole if you live on your own.  It keeps for several days.  I've made it for large groups of friends, for my family and for myself to take as lunch to work.  

Enjoy :)

Lessons in Cake Pops

For starts, I'm a 24 year old teacher, living on my own and loving it.  I was raised in Hendersonville, North Carolina, lived in Columbia, South Carolina for five years while attending THE University of South Carolina and now I have found myself in St. Petersburg, Florida.

 I was raised a small-town southern girl, and I like it that way.

I love to cook.  I love to bake.  I tend to be a creature of habit, but now and then I'll step out of my tiny kitchen of a box and try new things.  Since I've lived in Florida, I've tried so many new things.  One of my coworkers suggested I blog about my kitchen trials, kitchen errors and kitchen successes.  So, here goes nothing.

I suppose there is no better place to start than the present.  Tonight I tried cake pops for the first time.  Holy cow.  Having never made them before, I decided a $9 Black Friday cake pop/donut hole maker was the way to go.  By the way, I've already decided it was a good investment.

Getting started was super easy.  I decided I would go with the basic red velvet cake in a box and cream cheese icing (most definitely not homemade- which makes me cringe).  It took me about four minutes to make the cake batter in my fabulous mixer (another great Black Friday find).  I poured the cake batter in the machine and was off to a great start. It took five minutes to bake six cake pops.

 One box of cake made about 50 cake pops.

Then came time to ice and sprinkle the cake pops.  Hmm...

I've iced plenty of cakes and cupcakes.  I have never iced a little ball of cake.  So, I tried an icing spatula - fail.  I tried a spoon - fail. I tried to look up ideas online - fail.  All suggestions I found wrote about using melted chocolate or white chocolate to dip the cake pops in.  That, I did not have. I had a can of icing.
My next brilliant idea was to pour the icing in a Gladware storage container, drop a few pops in the icing at a time and shake it up.  Suprisingly enough, it was the best idea yet.  Once icing was covering all sides of the pops, I stuck a lollipop stick in the cake, pulled them out of the icing, sprinkled on some red sugar and stuck them in the freezer.  Why the freezer, you ask?  I have no idea.  I thought it would make it easier and a bit less messy to gift/eat.

I have drafted a few teachers to try the finished product tomorrow.
What will I change for the next time?  I WILL NOT use cake icing.  I will use Almond Bark.  It may be a bit messy, but the pops will look better and it will be much easier.