Berry-Yogurt Popsicles

This can be made with whatever fruit you prefer. I used a frozen mixed berry, vanilla yogurt, and agave nectar. I found the popsicle forms at the dollar store -can't beat that! It made a very tasty and refreshing summer treat.

(makes 8 popsicles)

Ingredients and Materials
16 oz. fruit, either fresh or thawed
8 oz. yogurt, whatever flavor you prefer
2 Tbs. sweetener (optional)

Steps
1. Puree the fruit using a food processor or immersion blender.
2. Add your sweetener and yogurt.
3. Blend until very smooth.
4. Spoon into your popsicle forms, freeze, and wait a few hours until done.

 

 

 

 

Maryland Flag Birdhouse

This is a birthday gift for our father-in-law that I spent the day making. I wanted to make him something unique and interesting. I thought painting the Maryland flag on the roof of a birdhouse would look cool. Both my husband and I graduated from the University of Maryland so I thought this would be a nifty gift. This took several hours to make. In particular it took a lot of trial error and repainting the roof because as it turns out the Maryland flag is quite complicated to draw. It isn't perfect, but its still pretty cool and I am really proud of it.

Butterfly Ombre Heart Tutorial

This is my twist on the Butterfly Ombre Heart Picture that I have seen. Be forewarned this is a very time consuming project and it took me several hours to make. It requires a lot of attention to detail, but is really cute when its done!

Materials Needed:
1 canvas (I chose a 12x12 canvas)
Cardstock in 3 different shades of the color of your choice
Butterfly hole punch
Hot glue gun and glue

Directions:
1. Hole punch your butterflies. It took me one sheet of each color. Then bend each individual butterfly almost in half.

2. Then rearrange each butterfly into a heart shape outline. At this point, just try to get the shape of the heart down right.

3. Once you have the heart shape right, then begin filling in the hear with the butterflies. Start turning the butterflies in a haphazard direction, this will make them look more realistic. The idea is to not make the butterflies look too uniform.

4. Next, scatter about the butterflies on one side to make it look like they are either flying away or landing.  Place a few extra butterflies around the heart to make it look like they are flying on the canvas.

5. Once you have your design perfect, begin the process of gluing each of the individual butterflies down.

Summer Initial Wreath

I have seen these pics pop up all over the internet and I decided that instead of buying one, I would try and make one on my own. I decided to go with my favorite colors turquoise blue and hot pink.

Materials Needed:
Hot Glue Gun
Gluesticks
3 of your favorite artificial flowers
Paint
Wooden Letter
Wood/Stick Wreath

Directions:
1. Paint the wooden letter in the color of your choice. I chose aqua blue because it accented the hot pink flowers and the turquoise flower really well. I also tried really hard to make the letter with pink polka dots on it, but that really didn't work. I decided one single color would be best.

2. remove the buds of the flowers from the stems and glue them down to the wreath. I decided to do one blue and two pinks to maintain balance. You can make the two flowers in the same color either the same size as your focal point flower or you can make them a little smaller to accent the larger flower.

3. Once dry, glue the painted letter to the other side of your wreath. Make sure it is secured well.

There you have it 3 easy steps and you have a cute summer wreath for your door!

Old Bay & Shrimp Alfredo

A couple of things Baltimore is known for are its crabs, Bohs, and Old Bay. Bring some 'hon to your table with this delicious twist on a quick and easy Alfredo Recipe. I am a big fan of ready made alfredo sauces and using them to make a variety of casseroles. Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:
1 lb uncooked shrimp
2 jars alfredo sauce
1 bag raw broccoli
1 box pasta (whatever you prefer...I like angel hair, but penne works as well)
Shredded cheddar cheese
1 TBSP Old Bay

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Boil broccoli until tender. In a separate pot, boil pasta of your choice until tender
3. Peel uncooked shrimp and set aside.
4.  When pasta is cooked and broccoli is cooked drain and rinse.
5. In pasta pot, combine pasta, broccoli, shrimp, alfredo sauce, and old bay. Toss until well mixed.
6. Transfer all ingredients to a casserole dish. Then top with cheddar cheese and sprinkle Old Bay on top.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
8. Enjoy :-)

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 8-10

Rattlesnake Pasta

So I was staring at my jar of jalapenos and I had a craving for rattlesnake pasta. If you have never had it, it is totally amazing. Its a frozen meal, but I swear it is one my husband's and mines favorites when I buy it. I was wishing I had some because I really wanted it for dinner, and then the light bulb went off. Why not make some of my own? So, I took a trip to the grocery store to get what I needed, and it turns out that it was a quick meal.

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (I use the Barilla veggie kind because I try to get as many servings of veggies as I can)
1 jar of Garlic Alfredo Sauce
1 package of diced pre-cooked chicken (5-8 oz)
1 package of bacon (you can use less if you like, but I like a lot of bacon in any dish I make)
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan
1 cup of Cheddar
1/4 cup of jar Jalapenos diced.

Prep Time- 20 minutes
Cook Time- 20 minutes

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Once it is at 375, then cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from oven, then let cool. Crumble the bacon.
2. Cook the pasta as directed, then drain pasta.
3. Add jar of Alfredo sauce to the pasta, add chicken, bacon, parmesan, and diced jalepenos. Mix
4. Transfer mixture to a casserole dish then top with shredded cheddar cheese. Garnish with jalapenos.
5. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

TGIF

Happy Furry Friday! Jake is here wishing you a happy and relaxing weekend. Don't forget this week is Daylight Savings Time!

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

It's March and today was my first and probably last snow day of the school year. Naturally, I thought to bake rather than catch up on work. When scavenging for snacks in the fridge this morning, I noticed what looked like a great cookie recipe on the back of my Grandma's Molasses jar. With dreams of doing anything rather than grade papers or attack my mending pile, I started gathering ingredients. The result was delicious!

Grandma's Molasses Crinkle Cookies

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ginger

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses. Stir in remaining ingredients. Chill dough. Heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Roll dough into balls the size of walnuts, dip tops in sugar. Place sugared side up on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle cookies with 2-3 drops of water each for a cracked surface. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Yum!