Month: January 2022

It is after Christmas and normally that would be kind of a blah, doldrums time but not in my house. I do snowmen, then add Valentine’s Day the first of February and finally St. Patrick’s exchanges for Valentine’s. I always have a decorating plan!

Anyway, I have a recap of a couple of the things that I did for Christmas and the usual recipes and “hacks for your life”. So let’s get this party started (as Pink so aptly said).

Recipes

Egg Roll in a Bowl (*spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com)

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion diced finely
• 16 oz coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup carrots peeled and finely shredded
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp garlic minced
• ½ to 3/4 cup soy sauce I used a little over ½ cup
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• green onion for garnish (optional)

• Cook ground beef in a large deep sided skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Be careful to not break the ground beef into smaller pieces, keep the pieces larger.
• Drain grease and return to the stovetop. Add onions and minced garlic and cook until meat is browned, again, keep the ground beef in larger pieces.
• Add 2 tbsp sesame oil, carrots, and cabbage to the skillet. Use tongs to combine. Let cook for. about 5 minutes.
• In a small separate bowl combine onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, ground ginger, soy sauce, and vegetable oil. Pour over meat and cabbage mixture.
• Reduce heat and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.

Note: I made this for a vegetarian friend by substituting the Morning Star crumbles for the ground beef. It was delicious! You could actually sub any ground meat for the beef if you desired.

Soft Molasses Cookies (*moneywisemoms.com)

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• granulated sugar for rolling cookies

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in egg and molasses until well blended.

In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Stir into the creamed mixture until blended. Chill for at least an hour, or until firm.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Note: This recipe made a lot! They were enjoyed by all!

Grinch Fudge (simplisticallyliving.com)

• 14 oz white chocolate chips
• 1 – 14 oz can of condensed milk
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• ⅛ tsp salt
• Neon green food coloring
• Red heart sprinkles

1. Start by lining a 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil and lightly spray with baking spray. Set aside.
2. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. You can do this by heating for 30 seconds, stirring and repeating until they are melted.
3. Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the condensed milk, butter and salt. Now, this will cause the chocolate to start to set. You want to stir fast and can stick it back into the microwave to reheat if needed.
4. Add 7-8 drops of neon green food coloring until you reach the color you desire.
5. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
6. Pour the fudge into the prepared baking dish and smooth out until it is evenly spread in the pan. You can also pick up the pan and give it a few light taps against the counter.
7. Add your red heart sprinkles onto the top of the fudge. Spread them evenly apart so when you cut it, there is a single heart on each piece. In my pan I was able to fit 4 across and 4 down for 16 pieces.
8. Stick the fudge in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight to set.
9. Once the fudge is set, cut the fudge into even pieces and serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

• My daughter, Melanie is a Grinch fanatic and that is why I made this. I think although it tasted good that the guys in our family were put off by the color. It would, however, be good for a themed Christmas party.

Pumpkin Lush (crunchycreamysweet.com)

for crust:

• 1.5 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

for cheesecake layer:

• 8 oz. cream cheese softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup whipped topping

for pumpkin layer:

• 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix 3.4 oz
• 1.25 cup half and half see note
• 1.25 cup 100 % pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice mix
• 2 cups whipped topping
• chopped nuts optional
• caramel sauce optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8″ or 9″ square baking pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.

make the crust:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir with a fork graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Sprinkle into an even layer onto the bottom of a prepared baking pan. With a flat-bottom glass, press the crust down. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes then cool completely.

make the cheesecake layer:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix with a hand mixer softened cream cheese for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar and mix in well. Add whipped topping and mix just until incorporated. Spread the mixture over cooled crust. Smooth out with an offset spatula.

make pumpkin layer:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk pudding mix with half and half until thick. Add pumpkin puree and spice and mix until well incorporated. Spread over cheesecake layer. Smooth out with an offset spatula.
2. Top the pumpkin layer with remaining amount of whipped topping. Place in the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

To serve:

1. Sprinkle chopped nuts over the dessert. Cut into 9 generous size squares, wiping the knife clean after each cut. You can also drizzle caramel sauce over each slice.

As I am prone to do, I experimented a little. Instead of graham crackers I used gingersnap cookies, crushed, for the crust and made it like you would for a no bake cheesecake which eliminated the baking part. It was delicious! This was a new dessert I added to my Thanksgiving repertoire.

Crafty-ness

• Grinch Wreath

I took a candy cane wreath form from Dollar Tree (if you’re a regular reader, you are not surprised by that), red burlap, white fuzzy material from a Santa hat that I had, an ornament I had on hand, a section of ribbon, and neon green gloves (used just one) that I ordered from Amazon. All of the ribbon and material were held on with the ever trusty, hot glue!

• Plaid Decor

I made these as favors for a Christmas party. I used wooden squares from Dollar Tree, a bow I had on hand, a section of plaid ribbon I had bought at Big Lots and Scrabble letters I had on hand. I fashioned a hanger with a piece of jute. If you ever get rid of a scrabble game, you know where you can send the letters! All items were held by hot glue. I did various sayings such as the one pictured and “Santa visit”, “Merry, Merry”, “Through the Snow” and “Merry and Bright”.

• Rolling Pin Tree

I collected vintage rolling pins of various sizes for the better part of a year. I hunted at household and garage sales, friends, and ebay. I finally had enough to for a tree. My friend, Cheryl (shout out to you girl!) gave me a vintage door that she just couldn’t throw away. I measured as carefully as possible to attach hooks in the right places. The hooks were not long enough to come out and meet the handles on the rolling pins so I used jewelry wire to attach the pins to the hooks. I used a metal star that I had for the top and used a battery operated set of lights to finish the decor. I put it on my front porch and was quite pleased with the results.

• Vintage Potato Masher What No

I used a vintage potato masher and made a little Christmas vignette and recipe holder out of it. All items were ones I had on hand. Of course, hot glue was my friend with this piece, as well.

• Milk Glass Vase Christmas

• I collected various sizes of milk glass vases from friends and relatives to create a simple Christmas display, I used pink ornaments for these since I had a section of my Christmas display that was pink and blue. Hot glue was used to hold the balls in place. This was a simple and pretty Christmas item to make.

Note: I also used the vases to make Christmas trees and forgot to take a picture. I cut triangular pieces of fabric in 3 different designs, stuffed them with fiberfill and glued them to the top of 3 vases. I added a silver set of jingle bells to complete the trees. The fabric I used was light blue with llamas and packages on it.

• Snowman Wreath

I snagged a snowman wreath form at Dollar Tree when I found it and also, a scarf, a child’s beanie and mittens. The yarn was bulky white and I had to order that from Amazon. I wrapped the wreath with the yarn, gluing every so often as I couldn’t leave the yarn in one big piece. It was too cumbersome. I ending up cutting a large section at a time and gluing the beginning and ending of each piece until I covered the whole form. I then used hot glue to secure the beanie and mittens in place and tied the scarf around his neck. My friend, Shelly, had a little embellishment she let me use for the hat. Viola!

• Saw Tree

I put a call out on Facebook and to my friends for old rusty hand saws once I saw this idea online. I had a wonderful response and made 3 trees with many leftover for future projects.

I used a little hot glue and E6000 to hold two saws together with the blades facing out and the handles forming the base of the tree. I used anything I had on hand to make the ornamentation and added battery operated lights. The stand was made out of 3 wooden blocks, using both glue types, attached to the mid back of the “tree” and a wooden painter stick to create the prop. The use of hot glue with the E6000 is just to hold the pieces together until the E6000 fully bonds which takes 24 hours.

Vintage Sifter

I used a vintage sifter, Christmas silk flowers and floral foam to create a decorative piece for a friend. She loves vintage pieces, especially with a little red! Before I gave it to her I removed the pine and child’s cookie cutter from the bottom since it didn’t come off as I had hoped. She can easily pull the flowers stuck into the floral foam out of the sifter and use it year round for decor as she sees fit.

Hacking Away

• We have several stray cats in our little neighborhood and I, with the help of my oldest son who cut the hole for me, made a little shelter for them that I placed in a safe place behind my house. I used an old cooler, which by definition, is insulated. My son cut the hole for me. I used duck tape to make sure there were no sharp edges around the hole. Inside I placed a blanket but you could use stray.

• Walmart coupons

I have been using Walmart.com and the Walmart app to order groceries and other needs. Did you know there is a section on the site for coupons to use? Neither did I until recently. Here are the instructions on how to find the page and used the coupons. https://www.walmart.com/help/article/print-and-use-coupons/205b65e070f247d7a98687b7ff2d5cc9

• Getting organized after the New Year? Me too! Here is a list I have found helpful as a guide. (bcicompound.com)

That list just makes me happy! I am a list and organization person at heart!

• This may belong in the craft section but it is handy to know too, so…….. If you need to dye clothespins for a project, or any wooden item actually, just put them in a quart jar filled 2/3 full with hot water to which you have added one teaspoon of Rit dye. Soak for at least 4 hours or longer to obtain the desired shade. If you needed to dye a larger item you would just have to find a larger container and multiply the amounts of water and dye to create the amount of solution you needed.

• Have you ever struggled with sweaters that have been hanging the normal way on a hanger? You know, those little lumps where the hanger ends on each side that mis form your sweater? Watch the video by clicking on the link. It will change your life! https://pin.it/79t3H88

That’s all this month peeps! I hope you were able to make it through this very long post and that there was something helpful! Now, I am on the hunt for next month’s gems. Or at least what I think are gems. Don’t forget to comment and leave me your ideas! I am always on the hunt for new ways to do things more efficiently, new recipes and of course, craft ideas. Thanks for following my blog and for reading! Happy New Year!!