At Home

Baked Oatmeal Cups

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Shoeless

Yeah, I know Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…but you know, sometimes there’s just not time to do more than grab a granola bar and cup of coffee to swallow in the car…and as much as Cliff Bars and everyone advertises how healthy their products are, well…they are far from it. So…I LOVE finding good on the go breakfast recipes and it’s been one of my summer goals to test them out and find some good ones so we’re all ready to go come school time…and this is one I’ll be remembering for sure!

It comes from Sugar Free Mom and although I changed it up some (ahh mmm…improved it…in my opinion) it still pretty similar to her recipe. So…here we go:

I used pink liners for the ones with stuff I like in them, the blue liners for the ones the hubby likes and then the yellow for “compromise” toppings that we’d both eat.

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup honey
5 cups, Old Fashioned rolled oats- NOT instant!
1/4 cup ground up flaxseed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
Whatever kind of dried fruits, nuts or candies you want to add in (I used about 2 cups worth)

Preheat oven to 350.
Mash up the bananas and mix with honey, applesauce, egg and vanilla. Mix well.
Add in oats, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
Stir in the milk, followed by the dried fruits, nuts and candies you picked.
Scoop into a lined muffin tin. They will not expand so you can fill it up as little or as much as you want.
Bake for 45 minutes. Let them cool.

*These only last in the refrigerator for a few days, but you can put them in the freezer and throw them in the refrigerator to thaw the night before.

*Hubby’s tip: Microwave them for about 20 seconds in the morning before leaving…they’re extra yummy that way.

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: baked oatmal, breakfast, cooking, oatmeal, on the go breakfast, on the road again | 5 Comments

Rosemary Spaghetti with Asparagus

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Shoeless

I don’t brag about my in-laws quite as much as a probably should…because let me tell you I am insanely lucky to have gotten such amazing in-laws. A few months ago I made Rosemary Green Beans while my father and mother in law were here. And they loved them…in fact, they loved them so much my father-in-law bought me a rosemary plant…which is awesome! We eat rosemary quite a bit and several of my favorite recipes feature rosemary…including this one, Rosemary Spaghetti with Asparagus. It’s a super easy recipe that is truly full of flavor. Makes a great entertaining dish, and because the asparagus is tossed in with the pasta, it makes it a very cheap dish too.

Rosemary Spaghetti

Total Time about 45 minutes/Makes 8 servings

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp coarse salt
2 tbsp butter
1 large coarsely chopped onion
5 cloves sliced garlic
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 lb spaghetti
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread asparagus on a rimmed baking pan, in a single layer; brush with oil and sprinkle with salt.
Roast 7-12 minutes or until fork-tender. Shake pan halfway through cooking to redistribute.
Cut stalks into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside. (to decrease baking time, you can cut first then bake)
Begin cooking spaghetti according to directions.
Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet, melt butter on medium low. Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
Add garlic, cook 1 minute.
Add broth and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and reduce liquid by half.
Add pasta to butter mixture. Add asparagus; gently toss.
Serve with cheese.

Let me know if you try this! Would love to hear what you think.

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: asparagus, cooking, recipes, rosemary, rosemary spaghetti | Leave a comment

Tea Wreath

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Shoeless

For anyone on Pinterest…and let’s face it, who’s not on pinterest? I’m sure you’ve seen this super cute Tea Wreath. I thought it was adorable and the perfect solution for entertaining…my only problem is I don’t have any wall room in my kitchen, so hanging this was completely out of the question…so, what’s a girl to do? Magnetize it! So, I basically just followed her directions (listed below) and added magnets to the back….and wah lah…here ya go, tea wreath!

Personally, I think it turned out great! Want to make your own? Here’s what ya do…

Gather up all your stuff…you’re going to need

A big piece of cardboard (I used an old computer paper box lid)
Pretty fabric or paper for the background (I used fabric, the original poster used scrapbook paper)
Pretty paper to cover the clothes pins…which brings us to…
Clothes pins…I used 14, but it’s totally up to you on how you want to space them.
Hot glue gun/hot glue
Magnetic strips or ribbon for hanging.

Cut out a giant donut out of the cardboard. It’s up to you how big you go, but make the thickness as thick as the clothespins. Depending on how many clothes pins you use depends on how big the diameter of the inner circle will be.
Cover your cardboard donut with the pretty fabric or paper….making sure to glue all the edges down really well.
Cover the clothespins with paper…just cut a long strip of paper the length and width of the clothespin and hot glue it on.
Glue down all the clothes pins to wreath…be weary of your spacing, make sure it’s even. And make sure the “clipping” part (the part that will hold the tea) is toward the outside.
Add on the magnetic strips or ribbon and hang.
Add on your tea and enjoy your pretty new wreath!

My tea wreath hung on my refrigerator. The perfect way for guest to pick their own tea!

Categories: At Home, DIY/Crafts | Tags: crafting, diy, entertaining, pinterest, tea, tea wreath | Leave a comment

Salad Recipes- In a Jar!

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Shoeless

I love salads, hubby loves salads…I, however, do not like the time it takes to make salads on a daily basis…the washing, the cutting…ehh…so…we have found the perfect solution…salads in a Mason Jar! These are truly awesome. Can not say enough about how awesome these are! You layer all the ingredients in a certain way to prevent the lettuce from getting mooshy (yes that is a real word) and they’ll keep in the refrigerator for about a week or so (we’ve had them go up to 2 weeks without getting soggy). I love these cause you just make them on Sunday and then they’re there in the refrigerator to grab all week…super fast lunch or lazy dinner when I don’t want to cook.

Most of these recipes call for dressing on the bottom…which works good, but I do find that the chicken or veggies on the bottom tend to soak it up and leaves for a drier (yet, still tasty) salad, so now we just make little individual cups of dressing to leave in the refrigerator with them. We do make sure they’ll fit in the jar though, along with the forks we pack so it’ll all go in the jar and make for super easy clean up (and keeps hubby from leaving the dressing containers and forks at work…and keeps me from losing them in my car).

So without further ado…some recipes…just layer them in the exact order starting at the top and you’ll be good. (and learning to make your own combos in no time!)

Caesar Salad:

-Caesar dressing

-shreds of carrots

-diced cooked chicken ( I used a Quoron veggie substitute)

-lettuce

-parmesan

-Freshly ground black pepper

I pack this with a small ziploc bag of croutons to be added when I eat the salad, no matter how you pack salads if you add croutons they’ll get mushy, so just take the extra step and put them in a ziploc bag.

Garden Salad

-Ranch dressing

-shreds of carrots

-cucumbers

-tomatoes (grape tomatoes cut in half work best)

-diced up onion

-lettuce

The picture on this shows it differently…follow these directions…I learned from my mistakes.

Cranberry and Walnut Salad

-Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing

-diced up chicken

-tomatoes

-onion

-Lettuce

-shredded mozzarella cheese

And take a ziploc bag with dried cranberries, croutons and walnuts to be added in when eating

Those three are my personal favorites…and my own personal recipes…I have some recipes included below that I know you’ll all love, plus the source that I got them from.

These three are from the My Not-So-Simple Life blog.

Poppyseed:

-poppyseed dressing

-carrot shreds

-green peas

-pineapple

-blueberries

-raspberries

-lettuce

Asian:

-light asian ginger dressing

-peapods

-carrot shreds

-cabbage shreds

-water chestnuts

-green peas

-bean sprouts

-quinoa

-toasted sesame seeds

-lettuce

Seafood

-dressing (I make a light dressing with light mayo, skim milk, salt and pepper, and Parmesan)

-cabbage shreds

-cherry tomatoes (halved)

-black olives

-celery

-drained canned crab / drained canned salad shrimp

-lettuce

These next ones come from The Daily Muse, and are truly amazing alternatives to the regular salads.

Caprese Pasta Salad

2 tbsp basil pesto (homemade or store-bought)

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 ½ oz fresh mozzarella, chopped into bite sized pieces

2 oz cooked penne pasta

½ cup fresh spinach leaves

½ cup fresh basil, chopped

Chickpea Salad

2 tbsp easy lemon vinaigrette (see below)

1 cup chickpeas½ cup sun-dried or oven roasted tomatoes

¼ cup spring onion, chopped

¼ cup red onion, chopped

½ cup olives, chopped

¼ cup piquillo peppers, chopped

½ cup fresh spinach

Greek Pasta Salad

2 tbsp easy lemon vinaigrette (see below)

1 cup cherry tomatoes

¼ cup red onion, chopped

1 cup cucumber, chopped

½ cup feta, crumbled

2 oz rigatoni, cooked

½ cup mixed greens

½ cup fresh mint, chopped

Easy Lemon Vinaigrette(will make enough for 3-4

Greek Salad 300x300 The Best New Way to Bring Your Lunch

mason jars)Juice from one large lemon½ cup olive oilGood pinch of saltCouple of grinds of black pepperShake all ingredients together in a small container

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: cooking, easy lunch, lunch on the good, mason jar salads, recipes | 7 Comments

How to Make: Personalized Map Magnets

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Shoeless

I love pinterest, and I love DIY sites…I however do not love how they given insanely step by step directions…I don’t need someone to show me how to tape a piece of paper onto a bottle…no need for 20 photos of you with a paint brush to show me how to prime a piece of board…so I guess my DIYs are going to be for those people who get annoyed by all the DIY sites that assume we’re idiots….with that being said, if I ever leave out something you don’t know how to do, just ask…chances are I don’t think you’re an idiot, I think I am for forgetting to post it.

Since this was going to be my first DIY project I did actually take a lot of photos of the steps (unlike all the others where you’ll not get that many photos.) and they are just below…you’re welcome to browse them and see each step, but essentially it’s this…Take glass “stones” that you can buy at the dollar store and use clear glue to glue them to paper (your map, a book page, photos, whatever), when dry, cut out using an exacto knife and then slap a magnetic strip on the back. Wahh la, done. aaand…these are the same maps found on Etsy for like $1-10 bucks a piece, I made about 30 for essentially about $3. Just make sure you use good glue that dries clear. (In a few of the below photos the glue hasn’t completely dried, that’s why there’s a white spot in the middle. It will dry up and go away.

I tried to pick personal places like places we’ve lived or visited or had important significance to our relationship…plus some fun things like wine bottles and our desire to always be “Away.”

P.S. If you need maps for this…visit a visitor center or hotel lobby, they always have free maps to give away.

Have you ever made magnets like this? Please let me know how they turned out!

Categories: At Home, DIY/Crafts | Tags: diy, dollar store, magnets, map, personalized, photos | 2 Comments

Black Forest Pie

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Shoeless

I remember the first time my mom ever made this…it quickly became a family favorite! My mother can seriously burn water (I say that with the utmost amount of love) and yet this is a recipe that she has never messed up! It’s super easy and prep time is minimal. It doesn’t need to refrigerate before serving, so plan a little ahead. P.S. My picture isn’t gorgeous but the taste is AMAZING! (I should also note this is a Keebler recipe that we found off of their piecrust…many moons ago.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping (Cool-whip), thawed
1 Keebler® Ready Crust® Graham Pie Crust (or Oreo Crust)
1 cup cold milk
1 package (4-serving size) chocolate flavor instant pudding & pie filling
1 cup canned cherry pie filling

Directions

Spread 1 cup of whipped topping in crust.
In medium bowl beat milk and pudding mix with wire whisk for 1 minute. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of remaining whipped topping. Spread over whipped topping in crust.
Spread remaining whipped topping over pudding mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around edge. Form slight depression in center of whipped topping. Spoon pie filling into depression. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Garnish as desired. Store in refrigerator.

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: cherry topping, cool whip, easy, food, graham cracker crust, keebler, oreo, pie, recipe | Leave a comment

Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Shoeless

Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a great versatile recipe that can be used for any type of cookies or cakes. I won’t lie…this is stole from Martha Stewart Living, June 2003 issue. It’s a basic simple Cream Cheese Frosting…granted it’s exactly the same as my mother-in-laws awesome frosting…so…is it really stealing? (I only “stole” it cause it was easier to copy and paste from another site than write the whole recipe out all over again.

Makes about 2-3 cups

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

*1 cup of confectioner’s sugar makes it into a not-very-sweet icing. Some people like that, I personally, prefer a sweeter icing so we ended up using about 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Start with 1 cup and add in until it hits the sweetness level you like.

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Icing

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: baking, cooking, cream cheese frosting, easy icing, frosting, martha stewart, recipes | Leave a comment

Carrot Cake Cookies

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Shoeless

“Fat kids heaven”

I LOVE Carrot Cake…and I really love Trader’s Joe’s inside out carrot cake cookies, sadly, I’m 3 hours away from the closest Trader Joes. These, however, are SO good they may make me swear off the Trader’s Joe’s version for ever. My husband’s response after he took a bit “Oh my god, I’m in fat kid heaven.” I’m not usually okay with making fat kid jokes…but, these are so good. I’ll let it slide. The recipe is modified from a Martha Stewart recipe and is slightly modified from the recipe I found at A Whisk and a Prayer.

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3-4 large carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside.

-Combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until well combined.

-In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir to combine.

-Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended.

-Mix in oats and carrots. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

-Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.

-Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough.

-Once cooled completely, spread cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. (Personally, I didn’t like the Sandwich…maybe my mouth just isn’t big enough? So we just topped ours with the icing and ate them individually)

According to Martha Stewart these made 28 sandwiches…maybe I just made mine really big, I got 28 cookies total, which would make you 14 sandwiches.

Bonus picture: My amazing hubby mixed up the frosting for me…how sexy is a man that can cook??

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: carrot cake cookies, cream cheese frosting, martha stewart, recipe, trader joe, trader joe's inside out carrot cake | 8 Comments

Stuffed Tomatoes

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Shoeless

I love stuffed peppers, but my hubby however, doesn’t like bell peppers…so, perfect solution? Stuffed tomatoes! This recipe is actually modified from one I found on Delish.

Stuffed Tomato with Rosemary Green Beans

1/2 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef (or we used 1 pkg Morningstar Meat Crumbles)
1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped, plus sprigs for garnish (even if you don’t like mint, it works well in this recipe- we left off the garnish)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (if using Morningstar, knock this down to 1/4 tsp)
Salt and pepper
6 large tomatoes
1 1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)

Preheat oven to 425°F. In 3-quart saucepan, cook rice as label directs.
Meanwhile, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium 1 minute. Add onion, and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Stir in ground beef, half of mint, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook 5 to 6 minutes or until beef loses its pink color throughout, breaking up meat with spatula and stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining chopped mint.
While ground beef cooks, cut each tomato horizontally in half. With melon baller or spoon, scoop out tomato pulp; place in large bowl. Remove 1 cup tomato pulp from bowl and chop. Discard remaining pulp or save for use another day. Return chopped pulp to bowl. Add rice, feta cheese, and beef mixture; stir until well blended.
In 15 1/2″ by 10 1/2″ jelly-roll pan, place tomato halves, cut sides up. Mound scant 1/2 cup beef filling in each tomato half; sprinkle with panko. Bake tomatoes 25 to 30 minutes or until crumbs are browned and filling is heated through. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Categories: At Home, Recipes | Tags: feta cheese, lean ground beef, morningstar crumbles, recipes, stuffed tomatoes, vegetarian | Leave a comment

At Home

Baked Oatmeal Cups

Rosemary Spaghetti with Asparagus

Tea Wreath