My Yummy and Creative Space

2009-03-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Southwestern-Flavored Ground Beef or Turkey for Tacos & Salad

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup cornmeal

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet until shimmering. Add onion; saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, oregano and cumin; saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beef or turkey and cook, stirring often, until it loses its raw color. Stir in tomatoes; simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cornmeal; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens, almost instantly. Cool and refrigerate (or serve warm for dinner as tacos or taco salad).

2009-02-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here were some of the signs I made fir Christmas presents. These signs were so fun to make. I just need to figure out a cheap place to get vinyl! Any ideas?

Applesauce pancakes

2008-05-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been looking for recipes to use the ingredients I already have. Pretty much to get rid of food (just in case we move) and to save money. This is a really good recipe and I was surprised with how good they were. The only difference I made was used apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice. I also added a little more milk than it called for because I like thinner pancakes:)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups dry pancake mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, stir together pancake mix and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the pancake mix. Add the eggs, applesauce, lemon juice and milk; stir until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

2008-04-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

I learned a new trick. I made a ton for a garage sale this weekend. I wonder how much I should sell them for. What would you pay for them?

2008-04-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some new clips that my friend Susan and I made today. I think they urned out pretty cute. I love my new Crop-a-dile too!!!!

This one is a snail. I just haven't put his antennas on yet.

Another Bag....Hawaiian Style

2008-03-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here it is. This one was made from a table runner. They did have place mats last time I looked, but they were all out of them. So, I found a table runner. I can't decide if I made it a little too long. What do you think. I also made sure I put the strap on better.
Notice I did a pocket this time?
Sorry for the bathroom shot. We only have mirrors in the bathroom since I've broken three of the long ones since I've lived here;(

2008-03-16T17:37:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I had two place mats left. I was thinking about a library bag for Mckenzie, but once I started putting it together I thought that Kellie should have a cool church bag too:) Not to mention that they would be so cute going to church all matching!!!! I think it turned out super cute!!!!! Although, I did put the strap on backwards. Oh, and that strap is from an old bag that Ryan got for free at a conference he went to a few years ago. I might take the time to flip the strap.....we'll see.

2008-03-15T22:18:00.001-07:00

Here are two new bags I made for my sister's kids. They needed new scripture bags. I tried to make them slightly different so the weren't exactly the same. These are made out of place mats. They were on clearance at Tuesday Mornings for $6.00 for 4. Not too bad. I think I'm going to use the other two and make a big bag for the library.

2008-02-26T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some new clips Marsha and I made for Mckenzie. They turned out pretty cute. I'm sure we'll be making more soon:)

2008-02-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here is another place mat project. Chris told me how to do this. You pretty much just fold the place mat in half and sew up the sides. Then, sew diagonals on the bottom of each side. Then, I looked in the ribbon section and found this thick ribbon. It was only .83 per yard. So, I sewed it around the top and then sewed the handles on.

It turned out pretty cute. The only problem was that right before I finished it my sewing machine broke. Like BROKE! I finished the rest by hand, but now I'm bummed about my sewing machine. I heard that JoAnn's does repairs so maybe I'll take it in tomorrow and see what they think.

Make-up Bags

2008-02-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

On our girls weekend my sister-in-law had one of these she made out of a placemat. We got all the stuff together and Kellie and Chris left before we could make them together. I sat down to make them today while I was waiting for some work emails to come in. Both of them took about a hour to make. They turned out cute too.

This one is for make-up brushes, mascara, lip gloss and an extra big pocket for my eyebrow fixer.
Then, I thought I'd make one for my make-up. I use bare minerals and they get so dirty when they are together. This keeps them all nice and clean. Also, I know what order I put them on instead of looking for the next one I have to use. If you use bare minerals you know what I'm talking about.
I wasn't expecting this one to look so cute when it's all tied up. I love it!

The placemats were at Wal-mart for about $1.89 each and the ribbon was probably a few dollars a yard.

New Cards

2008-01-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

These are some more cards I made for the January card group. We were suppose to make 12 birthday cards, 6 girls and 6 boys. I always make my boy cards a bit more plain than the girls. Usually because I have Ryan in mind when I make them and I can just see his face if it was all glittery and flowery:)

2008-01-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

As I continue my quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie I came across this one. They also turn out just like the picture.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

If you want to see the reviews click here.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-01-03T14:03:00.000-08:00

This is from Allrecipes. Here is the link to read the reviews. They are really good and I love the twist with the vanilla pudding.

INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Asian Pork

2008-01-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

1 pork loin or 6 pork chops

1/4 C Brow Sugar
1 t Ground Ginger
1/2C Soy Sauce
1/4 C Ketchuo
2 Garlic Cloves Crushed
salt and pepper to taste
2 T Sweet Chili Sauce

Place pork loin or pork chops in the slow cooker and top with all ingredients. Low for 6-8 hours.

This was really good. We had it over some noodles. It's also good over rice. My friend trippled all the ingredients except the pork for more of the juice and it was awesome. Also, watch the chili sauce. I only did 1 tablespoon.

The Best Meatloaf I've Ever Made

2007-11-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

I made this for dinner tonight. I doubled the recipe because I had two sets of missionaries and another couple come over. We only had a little left for leftovers tomorrow. Everyone loved it and I really liked it too. This is probably the recipe for meatloaf that I' going to stick with for now on.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
3 slices bread, toasted and crumbled
7 buttery round crackers, crushed
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons ketchup

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic 5 minutes, until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, mix the onion and garlic, beef, crumbled bread, crushed crackers, egg, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 can tomato sauce. Gradually stir in the milk 1 teaspoon at a time until mixture is moist, but not soggy. Transfer the mixture to a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), and continue baking 15 minutes, to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
In a small bowl, mix the remaining tomato sauce and ketchup. Pour over the top of the meatloaf, and continue baking 10 minutes.

New Cards

2007-10-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

So I joined a card making group. There are 8 people in the group. What this group does is we make 8 cards and then meet together and just talk and swap cards. Here are the ones I made today in a mad rush because it's tomorrow and I hadn't even started until 1:00 today.

Mckenzie helped by painting.

Pumpkin Crunch

2007-09-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is kinda like a pumpkin cobbler. After serving this no one will be unhappy, unless they are allergic to pumpkin or something.

1 C pumpkin puree (not the pumpkin pie filling w/ spices)
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 Can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1/2 C sugar
4 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t salt
1 C chopped pecans
1 C melted butter

Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together. Pour in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle all the yellow cake mix over the mixture, melt the butter and sprinkle over the mix. Then, spread pecans over that. Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 50-60 min. It's makes the house smell soooooo good! Serve either hot or room temp. Great w/ vanilla ice cream or just whipped cream.

Also, I've only had this w/o the pecans. I'm sure it's good with them too.

Café Rio Sweet Pulled Pork

2007-09-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

2 1/2 pounds pork
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup green chili sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Put pork, 1/3 cup water, garlic salt, salt, and pepper, in the crock pot.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Drain, shred pork, stir in 1/2 cup green chili sauce and 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Café Rio Rice

2007-09-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

3 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic –minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion
3 c rice (see note)

Blend cilantro, green chiles and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.

Cafe Rio Chicken

2007-09-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Cafe Rio Dressing

2007-09-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Café Rio Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe)
2 tomatillos (tomato like vegetable with a husk around them)
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeño (Use the seeds too if you like it spicy. You could substitute a few drops of green tobasco for the jalapeno.)

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

2007-09-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

1 c butter
2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 C sour cream
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda
4 t baking powder
pinch of salt
5 c flour

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. Chill for 1 hour. Roll and cut into desired shapes. Bake 350 for 8-10 min. Do not over bake.

2007-06-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

I made these today and they were quite good. I don't know who's recipe it was, but they were handing it out at Relief Society today. I added some craisens to some and chocolate chips to another.

Yummy scrambled eggs

2007-06-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

I jsut made this up, but I liked it so much that I want to make it again.

2 eggs
1 egg white

scramble with 1 overflowing tablespoon of fat free ricotta cheese.

2 tablespoons of onion finely chopped

spray the pan with butter flavored pam and sautéed the onions till soft.

add egg mixture

add salt and pepper to taste

add 1 heaping tablespoon of feta cheese

and add small pieces of what ever cheese you have left over. I had muenster and Colby (the muenster makes it very stringy.

cook till done and enjoy

2007-06-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

We have a new quilting interest group. We call ourselves the Piece Makers. Anyway, this was our first project. We all had to make 6 pink shoo-fly squares and 6 blue squares. So far, it's a lot of fun learning all the techniques. The blocks I did close ups on were mine.

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich

2007-05-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Martha Stewart. It's quite good. I had it today on homemade toasted wheat bread.

* 10 hard-boiled egg whites
* 2 hard-boiled egg yolks
* 2 to 3 tablespoons light mayo (I used 2 T fat free yogurt and 1 T Light Mayo)
* 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 1/2 avocado, mashed, plus 1/2 avocado roughly chopped
* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

How I put it together is as I was boiling the eggs I cut up the avocado, put the lemon juice over it. Then, added the other ingredients and added the eggs last.

Yummy Berry Trifle

2007-05-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe from my friend Kim. She brought it over one night we had them over for dinner. Then, Ryan made it for a school get together (I would of made it, but I was very ill at the time) Anyway, it is excellent! I am making it tonight and just doing strawberry shortcake with it.

1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1/2 Cup Oil
4 Eggs

Mix together and spread over a jelly roll. Bake at 300 for 30 min.

Filling

1 Can Sweet Condensed Milk
1/2 Cup Cold Water
1 Sm Box Instant Vanilla Pudding.

Mix together for 2 min and refrigerate till cake is done.

2 Cups of Heavy Cream Whipped till Still.

Fold heavy cream into filling mixture.

Any kind of fresh berry (Blueberry, Black Berry, Strawberry, Raspberry)

Once the cake is done cut up into 1 inch squares.

Layer Trifle

Cake
Filling
Berries

Do this till at the top you have berries.

Note: There are many ways to save on the calories. I use fat free sour cream, fat free pudding mix, 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites, fat free sweet condensed milk....you see where I'm going with this. It makes up for the heavy cream. Although, I'm planning on trying this with the fat free whipped topping. I think it would taste just as good with that.

Waldorf Tuna Salad

2007-05-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup of yogurt
* 1 tablespoon prepared Dijon-style mustard
* 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 (6 ounce) can oil-packed tuna
* 1 shallot, finely chopped
* 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
* 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice
* 4 large croissants
* 4 leaves lettuce
* 4 slices Swiss cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, curry powder, salt and pepper. Add tuna, shallot, apple, walnuts, celery and pickle relish and toss until all ingredients are coated with dressing.

I served this with my homemade wheat bread. Very good!

The whole things comes to about 9 points. When I made this for me and Ryan and it made about 2 1/2 servings.

Bean Salad

2007-05-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

I made this up because I need more fiber and it's only 1 point for weight watchers. Well, maybe two. Here is what I did.

1 Can Garbanzo Beans
1 Can Kidney Beans
1/2 Cup of Frozen Corn
1 Green Bell Pepper Diced
1 Cucumber Diced
1 Green Onion chopped
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons White Vinegar
Seasoned Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon of Ranch powder

1/2 cup is one point

Cards

2007-04-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sushi

2007-03-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

We made avocado and cucumber rolls. spicy tuna rolls and, seasoned fish rolls. the seasoned fish was that fish they sell in a bag now over by the tuna. It was quite good and very healthy. Eventually we will buy some sushi plates.

Tater Tot Casserole (Revised)

2007-03-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

O.K. This is not the best picture, but I made this tonight and Paula wanted some more recipes. By the way you can send me some recipes in the comments:) I Love New Recipes!!!

So, I kinda threw this all together and it actually taste pretty good (as you can see by the picture) Oh, and keep in mind that I only cook for 2 and a half people so you could double this recipe for the 9 x 13 or 8 x 11 pans.

brown 1/2 pound of Turkey Burger. Add a package of onion soup mix while browning.

In a separate bowl combine one can of cream of mushroom soup, about 3 cups of shredded frozen hash browns, a tablespoon of melted butter, 3 tablespoons of cream cheese, and a big spoonful of sour cream.

When the hamburger is done spread it on the bottom of a casserole dish. then, spoon the hash brown mixture over the top and then spread. For the topping I tried to mix some hash browns and melted butter in a bag and then spread them over the top. Hopping for a crunchy texture.

I baked this for 30 min at 350 degrees, then for the last 3 min I broiled it so the top would get crunchy. As you can see in the picture I needed to broil it for a little bit longer.

White Chocolate Popcorn

2007-02-19T06:35:00.001-08:00

I don't even like white chocolate but this is so good.

All you do is melt a brick of white chocolate and pour it over fresh popped popcorn that has some butter flavored pam sprayed on it and some popcorn salt. Stir it up and let it dry on parchment paper.

It's awesome!

Crock Pot Burrito Meat

2007-01-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

This I found in 101 things to do with your slow cooker. We had it tonight and it was quite good. I had it over tortilla chips and with cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and ranch dressing......so good.

1 lb of cooked and drained hamburger (I used Turkey Burger)
2 cans of refried beans
1 pkg of taco seasoning
1 sm can of tomato sauce (I just used some salsa)
1/2c water

Heat on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2 hours.

2006-11-30T16:50:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I wanted to start this blog for keeping recipes. I am a big fan of food and I love to cook. Today I just got my Nutrimill. I am soooooo excited to finally have it. I've really been into making bread since I've moved here. Also, my sister-in-law gave me an awesome bread recipe where she grinds the wheat for it. People it is so good, and healthy. I'll post is when I make it again.