I have a variety of things for you this month. Hopefully you will something that you didn’t know or haven’t tried and is useful to you. Please let me know if you try anything and I love when comments are left!
Recipes
Fruit and Nut Bars (motherwouldknow.com)
These are very much like a chewy granola bar and were a hit with those I shared them with.
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 50g
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar, packed 80 g. Either light or dark sugar.
- 2 cups nuts (any variety or mixed), toasted & coarsely chopped
- 1&1/2 – 2&1/2 cups dried fruit, chopped into bite size pieces if larger than raisins or dried cranberries – preferably a mixture of at least 2 types approximately 170g – 340g
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 handfuls chopped chocolate or another topping such as shredded coconut
- Line the pan with parchment or aluminum foil. Cover the sides at least halfway up on 2 sides and over the edge by about 1-inch on the other 2 sides. The longer sides create handles to lift the 8-inch square after it cools.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/160 degrees C, with a rack in the center of the oven.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add the brown sugar, and mix until the ingredients are well combined. Mix in the dried fruit and nuts, using your hands. Toss everything together until the fruit and nuts are well-coated with the flour and sugar mixture.
- Lightly beat the egg and vanilla together in a small bowl, then add them to the floury dried fruit and nut mixture. Using a fork, mix the liquid into the dry ingredients, until the mixture is uniformly moist and no flour/sugar remains untouched.
- Spoon the mixture into the pan and press it in evenly, so that the mixture forms a compact layer. Add a topping of chopped chocolate or sweetened coconut and gently press it in.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned. Hopefully the bars will pull away slightly from the sides, but you may not notice that. Cool the uncut bars in the pan. When completely cool, remove the entire 8-inch square, using the overlapping parchment or foil “handles.” Place it on a cutting board and cut into small squares. Because the square is dense, (carefully) use a cleaver or large, sharp
I don’t like coconut so I left that out. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly.
Salsa/Cream Cheese Dip 1/2 cup salsa 1/2 cup sour cream 1 – 8 oz. room temperature cream cheese 1 and 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Mix thoroughly and keep refrigerated until serving. Use your favorite tortilla chip or veggie to dip.
Pizza Boats
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. I used sub rolls to make these but you could use French or Italian bread too. I cut the sub rolls and then hollowed out a little of the inside of each side. First put on the pizza sauce. The urge is to use a lot but be careful because you don’t want the boats soggy. Then whatever toppings you want and then your grated mozzerella. I put my boats on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put them in the oven and roast for 10 to 12 minutes. The cheese should be melted and the boats getting a little brown on top. Enjoy!
Bean Salad
For some reason, I have been craving bean salad lately. I have made 3 or 4 batches. I came up with an easy method. 3 or 4 cans of 15 ounce beans, your choice, dark red kidney, light red kidney, navy, cannelini, pinto, black, etc. Drain and rinse them. Dice celery, cucumbers, red onions and any other veggie you desire. I like the 3 I listed for the crunch they provide. Mix all the ingredients and pour fat free Italian dressing on them. Use however much you feel with coat the mixture. Refrigerate until use.
Candied Walnuts (amandacooksandstyles.com)
- 3 cups walnut halves
- 1 egg white
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp water
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, add 1 egg white and 1 tsp water. Whisk to combine.
- Add walnuts to the bowl and toss to fully coat all the walnuts in the egg white mixture.
- In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt.
- Toss the coated walnuts into the cinnamon sugar mixture and toss until all walnuts are fully coated.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add all the walnuts giving them each a little bit of space.
- Bake for 20 minutes, and then flip them over and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and remove from the baking sheet to cool.
Mushroom Soup (allrecipes.com)
I have reorganized my kitchen so that I could get to my small appliances more easily and hopefully use them more often. As it was they were not that easy to get to and I would put off getting them out to use. I used my Instant Pot to make this soup. I actually saved money too since I bought the mushrooms on the Flashfood app from our local Tops store and got them at a much reduced price.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup sherry
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Melt butter in a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot) set to the Sauté function. Add onion and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Cancel the Sauté function.
- Stir in chicken broth, sherry, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Close and lock the lid; select the Manual function and set the timer for 5 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.
- Release the pressure using the natural-release method according to the manufacturer’s instructions, about 10 minutes. Release remaining pressure carefully with the quick-release method, 2 to 3 minutes. Unlock and remove the lid.
- Select the Sauté function again and bring soup to a light simmer.
- Whisk flour into heavy cream in a small bowl; slowly pour into simmering soup, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Cancel the Sauté function. Season with salt and pepper if needed. * I didn’t have cooking sherry so I looked up a substitute which was apple cider vinegar and it worked just fine.
Peanut Butter Frosting
I recently made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for my son. He requested the honey roasted peanut butter since he loves that.
3/4 cup butter at room temperature 1 and 1/2 cups creamy honey roasted peanut butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups powdered sugar about 1/4 cup milk
Cream the butter and peanut butter. Add the vanila and then a little at a time add the powdered sugar. As it becomes a little harder to mix add the milk a very little at a time. You are aiming for a creamy, light consistency. Pipe or spread onto your favorite cupcake or cake. This would be yummy on cookies or brownies too.
Crafts
You know I had to get crafty, right? Here a few little items I did.
I used old sheet music I had and cut out hearts. Using embroidery thread and a needle I stitched around the outside. Before closing the heart up, I used napkins folded over several times to make the hearts puffy. When I did the final stitch on the outside, I tied a knot and then went up 3 inches and tied another knot to make a loop for hanging. I then formed a red bow with narrow ribbon and hot glued it to the top of the heart.
After Christmas I bought these little mini red tobacco baskets for 75% off. At Dollar Tree I picked up some little gnome picks for Valentine’s Day. I broke the stick off the pick and hot glued it to the basket. I made a bow with Valentine ribbon and hot glued that as well. I used mine just leaning on something but you definitely could make and glue or tie a loop for hanging to the top back of the basket.
Heart Shaped Crayons for the Great Grandkids
I peeled the papers off of odds and ends of crayons I had in a tin. Then I broke them up and put them in a silicone heart mold that I bought at dollar tree. I preheated the oven to 250 degrees and then placed the mold on a cookie sheet for stability. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until crayons are completely melted. Allow to cool completely and pop out of molds.
Summer Candles
Already on hand at home I had the blue/green canning jars and the same color insulators that my son had found. I also had the rope I used to add a little zip. At Dollar Tree I found shells to fill the jars and the white candles which fit perfectly in the insulators. I used E6000 to glue the insulators to the canning jars. You could fill the jars with anything you liked and change up the theme.
House Sign
I bought the little house sign at Dollar Tree and used my Cricut to cut vinyl letters out for the sign. I kind of like funny, a little sarcastic type sayings.
If you don’t have a Cricut start looking into one. You can do so much!
Pets
I am a Buffalo Bills fan and this year I made Bills shirts for the dogs. I ordered the shirts from Amazon (I mean where else?) and bought several different Bills designs for my Cricut online for $1.99. I used iron on vinyl for the shirt and it was super easy.
Frozen Dog Treats
My dog, Isobel, turned 4 on January 25 so I made her and Cookie some treats for the occasion. I used 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup coconut oil. I had bone and paw print silicone mold and used a spatula to put the mixture into the molds. I froze and and it was just that easy!! The dogs really loved them and they are healthy and good for their coats.
Hacks
*Using a shoe rack for organization is awesome. I shared years ago that I used one for extra kitchen utensils on my pantry door. Just recently I have been organizing my craft room and used one to organize my ribbon so I could see what I had more easily.
*I was trying to get my stacks of books out where I could see what I had to read and get to them more easily. (Are you sensing a theme for February?). I hit upon the idea of using plant trolleys to stack them on and they are a little decorative too!
*Wrap your sandwiches in a paper towel before putting them in a sandwich bag. You will never eat a soggy sandwich for lunch again.
*Running your bacon under cold water before cooking will reduce shrinkage by as much as 50%.
*To convert temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit, double the Celsius and add 28.
