Serving Plate/Cloche Stand

I went to the dollar store and bought a plate and a sundae glass.
I came home and flipped the sundae dish upside down and glued it to the bottom of the plate with liquid nails (you could also use silicone).

I then added a little ribbon embellishment, threw some nice summer fruits on top and called it good!
$2.00!!!

So I have seen this done a couple of ways. Many people use candle stands, which works but mine was a dollar, and I like it better! You can also spray paint the sundae dish and the plate to have a perfect match. You'll want to finish it up with a coat of poly though. I just liked the look of mine and went with the green because I'm going to fill my cloche with citrus this summer and thought it would look good. Soo Easy and Soo Cheap!

Foil Dinners

Ok, not the most appetizing looking meal I've ever made, but they were good. This is the first time I've made these and they were by request of my husband.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, I recommend a higher fat content like 80/20

potatoes, peeled & diced

carrots, either baby or sliced

onion, sliced

1 can cream of mushroom

salt & pepper

any other seasonings of choice, Lawry's, Garlic Salt, Lemon Pepper, etc.

butter

Directions:

1. Place 1/4 pound patty on an 8x8 piece of heavy duty foil.

2. Season patty with salt & pepper, and any other desired seasonings.

3. Place potatoes, onions, and carrots on top.

4. Place a dollop of butter on top of meat and vegetables.

5. Cover with cream of mushroom.

6. Pull 2 ends of foil together and roll, then roll each end in as well.

7. Place in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour.

Fresh Mexican Salad

I was a little skeptical about this recipe at first, but it got such awesome reviews on allrecipes.com that I decided to give it a try....and I'm so glad I did!

My husband said "this is a keeper!" I made this as a side dish to my Shredded Beef Tacos, click here to view recipe, and they were awesome together. This salad can be served alone, on the tacos, or eaten with chips. Don''t let the long list of ingredients scare you, I had most of these things on hand.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn kernels
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce ( I omitted this)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine beans, bell peppers, frozen corn, and red onion.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and black pepper. Season to taste with hot sauce and chili powder.
3. Pour olive oil dressing over vegetables; mix well. Chill thoroughly, and serve cold.

Flower Clips

(don't ask me how my daughter ended up with blonde hair, I'm still trying to figure that out myself!)

What you need:

alligator clips (CVS Pharmacy, Sally's)

3/8" grosgrain ribbon

scrapbooking flowers, not the paper ones

decorative scrapbooking brads

hot glue gun

scissors

What you do:

1. Cut a piece of ribbon approximately 3 1/2" long. Apply a strip of hot glue to the entire back of the ribbon.

2. Pinch open the alligator clip and slide the ribbon in, glue side up, close the clip.

3. Continue wrapping the ribbon around the outside and around the bottom of the clip, trimming any excess ribbon. (YOU HAVE TO WORK QUICKLY AS THE HOT GLUE WILL DRY FAST!)

4. Layer your chosen flowers and feed a brad through the center holes. Flip the flower over and open the ends of the brad to secure.

5. Apply a small amount of hot glue to the back of the flower and place on the clip. Easy Enough!

Flat Iron Steak w/ Southwest Rub

Ingredients:
1 flat iron steak, any size
Southwest Rub:
1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Combine all ingredients and rub evenly onto steak just prior to cooking.

Directions:
1. Preheat bbq grill to medium-high heat. Spray grill with non-stick spray.
2. Place steak on grill, top down, for 10 minutes. Flip steak and cook for an additional 10 minutes, top down.

This is a really tender and inexpensive steak. One steak feeds my entire family with little to no left overs. It comes in a vacuum sealed package which freezes great!

Caramel Rolls

YUM!

Prepare one recipe for Lion House roll dough, (click here for recipe); allow to rise once. Divide dough into three equal parts. You will need 2/3 of this dough for these caramel rolls. The other 1/3 of dough you can make into a loaf of bread (see post below, or click here).

Ingredients:

2 parts Lion House roll dough

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

6oz. (2 small boxes) vanilla pudding mix (NOT instant)

3 Tbsp. milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

cinnamon-sugar

Directions:

1. Spray a 9x13 cake pan or a bundt pan with non-stick spray. Take 1/3 of dough and tear into small pieces, placing them randomly in the bottom of greased pan.

2. Melt butter and add remaining ingredients, except cinnamon-sugar.

3. Drizzle 2/3 of the caramel mixture over dough pieces.

4. Take remaining dough and tear into small pieces placing them in any empty spots. Drizzle remaining caramel mixture over top. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

5. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise till doubled.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto platter or cookie sheet.

*you may substitute Rhodes frozen dough for Lion House dough. Allow 2 loaves of frozen dough to thaw completely. Use one loaf for the top and one loaf for the bottom.

Lion House Bread

The caramel rolls only called for 2/3 of the Lion House roll dough so you can use the extra dough to make a loaf of bread.

Directions:
Prepare one recipe of Lion House roll dough, (click here for recipe); allow to rise once. Divide dough into three equal parts, shaping each into a loaf. Place each loaf in a greased loaf pan and allow to rise till doubled. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Flour Jars

I've been working on organizing my pantry lately. I found these jars at Target and loved them. They are perfect for my flour, they hold up to 10 lbs. I had my vinyl lady make the labels so I could distinguish which flour was which. By the way, I have a good vinyl lady if anyone needs one. All in all, I think they turned out cute. Organizing my pantry will be a slow process though. The cost of doing this, the way I want it, isn't going to be cheap.

Scalloped Potatoes

It's been a while and I'm a little behind on posting! I've been super busy but wanted to get some recipes on here so make sure you check them all out. I'll have another craft posted soon. Thanks for checking in!
8-10 large russet potatoes
Wash and peel potatoes. Wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees. Allow potatoes to cool completely. Slice potatoes on a mandolin slicer to desired thickness. Set aside.

Saute the following:
4 Tbl. butter
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 large leek, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
Set aside.

Roux (sauce):
Melt 3/4 cup butter in a skillet.
Add:
2/3 cup flour
1 Tbl. salt
1 1/2 tsp. garlic pepper
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
Slowly add 5 cups milk or 1/2 & 1/2 to mixture, stirring occasionally till thickened.

Spray baking dish and layer as follows:
1/3 sauce, 1/2 potatoes, 1/2 onion mixture, 1/3 sauce, remaining potatoes, remaining onion mixture, and remaining sauce.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees.

*this recipe came from Shar's Bosch Kitchen Center

Lion House Rolls

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk

2 Tbl. yeast

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup shortening

1 egg

5-5 1/2 cups flour, all purpose works fine but bread flour is better if you have it

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine water and milk powder till dissolved. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, shortening, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes.

2. Add 2 more cups of flour and again mix on low for 2 minutes.

3. Add remaining 1- 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time until dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. (The dough should be soft but not overly sticky.

4. Remove dough from bowl coat with oil, return to bowl, cover and allow to rise till doubled. (you can skip this step if using SAF instant yeast)

5. Sprinkle your counter with flour or canola oil, which ever you prefer, and roll out dough. You can cut these into any shape you prefer. (I cut rectangles and rolled them like you would a cinnamon roll)

6. Place rolls on a greased cookie sheet and cover allowing them to rise till doubled again.

7. Bake rolls for 8-12 minutes, depending on shape, at 375 degrees.

(I yielded 2 dozen with this recipe)

*These are good but I'm still a fan of my "knot roll" recipe.