Lame Reasons My Husband Gives Me For Why We Can't Make S'mores in the Fireplace...aka It Snowed In NC!

So I really like S'mores. And now I live in a house with two fireplaces. Not the gas kind. The real kind. That uses wood and stuff. And I knew it was supposed to snow this weekend. So I'm all like, fireplace means we can totally make s'mores in our house. But B tells me that we should probably not make them in the fireplace. And I'm all like "then why did we even get the fire places cleaned?" Eh?

But he claims......

1-Something like all the marshmallows are going to fall into the fireplace and then he will have to clean them out.

and

B-We use fuel fire logs to start the fire and apparently fuel and food don't go well together.

Then lastly he states, that we should just go camping. Yeah right. I'm not going camping just for s'mores. (remember tubing trip extravaganza 2008, Beezus5?)

But yeah so it totally snowed in NC. A lot. The most I've seen in a really long time. So we made a fire with our fuel logs and then I decided to go ahead with indoor s'mores. But I decided to go with the oven so I wouldn't have to eat fuel marshmallows.

Oven S'Mores

-Marshmallows

-Hershey Chocolate Bars
-Graham Crackers

1-Preheat oven to approximately 300 degrees

2-Layer half a graham cracker with a Hershey bar with a marshmallow (see pic)

3-Cook in oven for like 5-10 minutes. Watch it to make sure the marshmallows don't explode.

4-Once Marshmellow is melty, remove from oven and add top layer of graham cracker.

Now these are missing the marshmallow crunchiness of fire roasted marshmallows but hey, it's still melted marshmallow, melted chocolate and graham crackers. So yeah, they're still pretty tasty.

This fire is strictly for ambiance, not cookery.

I was a Frozen Dessert Professional for 3 Years....aka the Easiest Smoothie Ever

My first resume that I ever made included the following jobs; Smoothie Maker-Creative Juices, Ice Cream Scooper-Baskin Robbins, and Ice Cream Maker-Marble Slab Creamery. I also worked at a Salad Bar in college that had soft serve Ice cream if that counts. It took me quite some time to find a non frozen dessert related job after college.

So, we all know that ice cream is a good delicious treat that most people love, but in my opinion, the Smoothie is tops as far as frozen delicacies go. I worked at a place called Creative Juices when I was in high school. The ironic thing is that they were not creative at all. I'm pretty sure they just went in to the Juice Shop (the better smoothie place in my hometown) stole their menu and then renamed the smoothies. For example.....Strawberry Splash at the Juice Shop was essentially the same thing as Creative Juices's Banaberry Bash. Creative Juices is now a Ross Dress For Less (my friend Brayer or Curly J's favorite store).

So in honor of it being like 20 degrees warmer this week than last week we have the.........

200 Calorie, Really Easy, Really Good

Strawberry-Pineapple Smoothie......

-7-8 frozen strawberries (like 3/4 of a cup)
-1/2 cup of pineapple juice
-1 8oz carton of vanilla low fat yogurt (I like Dannon Light and Fit)

1. Put it all in the blender. Blend until smooth. 2. Enjoy.

(this makes one serving, which is very easy to make in that special dual wave blender I have)

Things that I do not like in Smoothies.......
A-Milk
B-Chocolate
C-A bunch of powder (protein, vitamin C, bees wax, etc...a little is ok, I don't like it when you can taste it)
D-Silken Tofu

I drink these smoothies for breakfast, lunch or dessert and I love them. You can substitute different juices or fruits (I use blueberries a lot) or add in a banana. All are very good!

Email From My Mom aka How to Roast Brussels Sprouts and a Bonus Recipe (family secret)....

Email exchange between my mom and I this week....

me-
please send me detailed instructions on how to make the brussels sprouts your made at christmas.thanx.

mom-
Look for fresh-looking b.s. Cut off the ends and pull off any yucky looking leaves so that you are left with a gorgeous, green sprout. Wash that off, then cut the sprouts in half. Season with a fine-quality olive oil, salt and pepper. I like to use sea salt or Kosher (the same) and cracked pepper. I especially like the Monini Fruttato O.O., but it is expensive-only buy when on sale. This week, the Colavita Fruttato(which I have never before seen in Fruttato) is an extraordinary buy at HT. $6 off the regular price. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is as good as Monini. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 min.-whenever you think they are browning a bit and done. I also add a little Balsamic or lemon juice or both during the cooking process. These are tasty morsels and packed with nutrional goodness. Love,Mom

mom again-
P.S. that little browning brings out the nutty flavor and goodness of the sprout.

OK, so lets roast some brussels sprouts. Oh and what's up with them being called BrusselS sprouts? I did not know about that S on the end until a couple of months ago. Too many s's if you ask me.

Fun Facts about BrusselS Sprouts stolen from wikipedia-Brussels sprouts belong to the same family that includes cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi: they are cruciferous. They contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre. Moreover, they are believed to protect against colon cancer, due to their containing sinigrin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout

So I essentially just followed her instructions above........

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Bag of fresh Brussels Sprouts from Harris Teeter
Sea Salt
Pepper (I wanted the kind you grind but we were out of it so I just used regular pepper)
Olive Oil (my good kind from Italy, thanks Mandy!-she hates being called that by the way)
Balsamic Vinegar

So I pretty much did what she said. I cut the ends off and halved all the brussels sprouts, then washed them. Then I lined a pizza pan (I'm not sure why I used that) with foil and put the sprouts, 1 tablespoon oil, a handful of salt and some pepper on it and mixed it around with my hands. Then I baked them for 35 minutes at 400 degrees. At the halfway point I drizzled some Balsamic Vinegar over them.

The Brussels sprouts browned nicely and tasted good. I think they might not even have needed balsamic. But I like it. Some of the leaves fell off and got crispy. Those were actually quite tasty. So overall I enjoyed these and my husband gave them a "mmmmmmmm Brussels sprouts" as soon as he was finished downing them.

And now for a bonus recipe. I made baby hamburgers to go with the sprouts. When I was little and my dad would go out of town, I would always request baby hamburgers from my mom. For some reason I guess he did not find them appealling. For years I thought they were a complex hamburger recipe served in a delicate tomato sauce. Then one day when I was older I asked for the recipe. Only 2 ingredients. Hamburger meat and a can of tomato soup. Make mini hamburger patties. Then cook them in a skillet over the stove and once they are cooked, add a can of tomato soup. Simmer for a few minutes and you're done. Delish and a great compliment to roasted brussels sprouts.

Button Earrings

Button Earrings are fun!

So after my wedding this past August, I got really in to jewelry making. Mostly earrings. I made so many that I started putting them for sale on Etsy. Sales have been a bit slow. One night over Thanksgiving break I had my sister, her friend, my brother, and my best friend all crammed in to my craft room (which was a huge mess by the way). They were all looking at my earrings and someone suddenly decided I should make earrings out of buttons. So, here they are.

These are pretty easy to make. You just glue 2 matching buttons to earring backs, which can be purchased at any craft store. I, however have been using super glue to glue the back on, which has been a little difficult. I always manage to glue a button to my finger, a button to the carpet or my fingers to each other. And super glue does not come off your fingers once it dries. At least not for a few days.

I also attempted to sell these earrings at the flea market a couple months ago. One woman came up to my table and shouted "no, you did not make earring out of buttons". I wasn't really sure how to respond so I just nervous laughed and said "yes I did." She did not buy any but one other woman did. So yay for button earrings. Also my friends and sister seem to like them. And if someone asks you why you are wearing a button in your ear you can always say "uh yeah, how do you think my ear is staying on my head." I said that once. The person looked confused. But anyways, I heart button earrings.

Oh and if you want to save yourself from gluing your fingers together, you can get some here....

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38263028

Latin Chicken

I found the recipe for 'Latin Chicken' when I was searching for a different recipe. At one of my work social events someone bought in a sweet potato and black bean salad or compote of some sort. I thought it sounded neat so I started searching the Internet for sweet potato and black bean recipes when I came across this.....
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-latin-chicken/Detail.aspx

Harris Teeter frequently has a buy 1 get 2 sale of packs of chicken breast so I have a bunch of chicken right now. I don't like baking or pan cooking chicken because I always seem to make it dry and flavorless so I thought it was a good time to bring out my slow cooker. This recipe seemed like a good fit.

I substituted chicken breast for the thighs. I've never actually made anything with chicken thighs and I'm pretty sure breasts are better for you so...voila. Here's my adapted recipe based mostly on the original.....

Latin Chicken

1.5 pounds chicken breast
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 can black beans
1-2 sweet potatoes cut in to chunks (I used one big and one small)
a couple handfuls of frozen mixed bell peppers
1 cup of salsa
3/4 cup of chicken broth
a bunch of cilantro split in half (approximately 1/2 cup)
minced garlic (the kind in a jar that you can refrigerate)
teaspoon of cumin


limes for garnish


1. Brown the chicken for about 3 minutes on each side in some olive oil on a pan on the stove. Sprinkle some handfuls of chopped cilantro as well as salt and pepper while cooking.

2. Place the chicken in the bottom of a lightly greased slow cooker. Pour the can of black beans (after draining), frozen pepper and sweet potato chunks on top of the chicken. Mix the salsa, chicken broth, more cilantro, cumin and garlic together and pour over everything else.

3. I cooked this on high for 3 hours and then switched it to low for the last hour. I shredded the chicken after the first three hours. Serve with lime juice and hot sauce for garnish if you wish.


So I made this for my husband and my BFF. Both said that the chicken was tender and that it was delicious. They have both been known to lie, but swear they were telling the truth. I also liked it. So if you like chicken and have a crock pot, I would definitely recommend this dish. It's not hard and it tastes good.

Browning the chicken................

And I realized that using a potato peeler makes peeling potatoes a lot easier than just using a knife. I finally remembered that I had a peeler.

And here it is, the finished product.........

Making Stuff is fun.....

I really like making stuff, mostly food and arts and crafts. Or at least trying to make stuff. Or at least coming up with ideas of really cool stuff that I can make in my mind and then not following through. Or following only half way through or realizing it's way to hard for my limited skills. You should see my 'craft room'. There's a lot of unfinished stuff in there. I don't really think I'm good at writing but sometimes my friends laugh at emails I send them so I thought I'd give it a try. I also really like reading random blogs online so I'm assuming other people do too.