Menu Idea

Why have this?

 When you can have this??

What you need:

Picture Frame

Sticky Letters

Cute Scrap Book Paper

Dark Erase marker (or even those new chalk markers)

What you need to do:

Cut your scrap paper to the size of frame.

Stick your letters, how ever you'd like, on the paper. 

Frame it.

Write out your menu for the week!

Fun, quick, easy, inexpensive project that's super cute! :)

How to make Tzatziki sauce

I am not Greek, I do not know some secret ancient recipe or anything, I just happen to like the sauce and tried to get as close as I could to it! 

What you will need:

2 English Cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Plain Yogurt (or Greek)

2 tbsp. Olive Oil

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Dill

3 tbsp. Minced Garlic

What you need to do:

 If you have a tiny food processor, like me, it'll be a slower process, but not too slow!

Puree your cucumbers and add in some sour cream and/or yogurt and puree together. 

Bring to a bowl and mix all ingredients together. 

I, personally, use this sauce on my Greek Nachos, which I will have the recipe posted soon. 

Crayons aren't just for kids!

Melted Crayon Art

This is something fun I saw on stumble upon that you can do with kids or even as a couple.

It's easy to make, inexpensive and super cute!

So what you need:

Canvas

Crayons

Hot glue gun

Glue sticks

and a blow dryer

What you need to do:

Canvas.

Crayons (I had to use more than 24).

Take Crayon.

Line some glue on the back of a crayon.

Line 'em up!

Let it dry! (Doesn't take that long)

Blow dry on low.

I did a layering pattern, but you can do it however you want! 

You can even do different patterns with the crayons! 

Have fun!

How to make Avocado Ranch

• Got this recipe from HERE
• 
  
• What you need:
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package Neufchatel cheese
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 avocados, peeled and pitted

What you need to do:

In a food processor, mix the sour cream, Neufchatel cheese, ranch dressing mix, hot sauce, garlic salt, and celery salt.

In a bowl, mash the avocados, and mix in the sour cream mixture until well blended. Cover, and chill until serving.

How to Make Home Made Gnocchi

I LOVE gnocchi and NEEDED to find a great recipe for some homemade Chicken and Gnocchi soup. I found this recipe from HERE and it's pretty good!

What you need:

5-6 Medium potatoes, NOT PEELED

 1 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour

2 Egg Yolks

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

What you need to do:

Boil your potatoes whole and not peeled. Make sure there are no piercings or tears in them because water is gnocchi's 'enemy'. Too much water and your gnocchi is gummy, too little and then they are dense. 

I boiled my potatoes about 45 min. To check them I lifted them gently with a slotted spoon and poked them with my finger to see if they were squishy. Other than that, you have to wing it. 

 I learned this nifty trick a while back. 

When your potatoes are done, IMMEDIATELY dunk them in icey water and let sit for a little while.

After about a minute or so, you should be able to grab them and not only will they be able to handle, but you can peel them really fast! Usually you can peel off chunks! Plus, this is a lot faster than letting them sit and cool.

Mash your potatoes, making sure there are no lumps.

Here, I added the rest of the ingredients, but it didn't seem like it was stiffening enough to me, so I did it by hand there after.

If you do it by hand, make sure there is a lot of flour on your CLEAN surface.

Knead, Knead, Knead.

Until its a perfectly, non sticky, ball.

Cut a slice from your ball into a strip and roll it out to make a long log about 1/2'' thick.

Cut your log into little pieces. 

You have a few options from here

1. Leave them like this

2. Shape them with a Gnocchi board

3. Shape them with a Fork

Here is a video on how to shape them with a fork (same concept with a Gnocchi board, but I don't have one)

When done cutting and/or shaping them, line them, making sure they don't touch.

These are best used within 2-3 hours of making them, at room temp. 

Or freeze them: 

Freeze them on a baking sheet, again, not touching until they are frozen, then place them all in a zip lock gallon bag, so that they do not stick together. They keep for 2 months.

Cooking your Gnocchi:

 Bring 12-15 into salted boiling water and let them rise to the top, about 2 minutes. 

I added them at the end of making a soup about 2-5 minutes and they were delicious!

Uses:

Make in soup/stew 

Sautee them with a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese

add into a sauce like tomato or meat sauce

Mix together in an Alfredo or other white sauce and broil them

Enjoy!

How to package your goodies

How to Ship Cookies:

• Try to bake your cookies within 24 hours of shipping.
  
  
• Let cookies cool to room temperature before packaging.
  
  
• Place cookies in an air-tight container.
  
  
• Put waxed paper or parchment between each layer of cookies to keep them from sticking to each other. (I just recycled the parchment paper I baked the cookies on for this.)
  
  
• If cookies don't completely fill the container, add shredded or crumpled waxed paper, parchment paper, or cupcake liners to fill the gap.
  
  
• Place container in a shipping box with 2-3 inches of packing on all sides to keep cookies from breaking during shipment.
  
  
• If shipping the next day, freeze your box of cookies overnight to ensure freshness longer. If you're shipping during the cold-weather months, that will help, too.
  
  
• Mark the box FRAGILE.
  
  
• It's best to send your cookies on Monday or Tuesday to ensure the cookies don't sit in a post office or warehouse over a weekend and start to get stale.
  
  
• I recommend USPS Priority Mail (2-3 day delivery) as a fairly fast and economical shipping method. 

From:

How to ship Cupcakes:

The answer is to use half pint mason jars as your cups! 

The mason jars are oven safe - you can bake your cupcakes directly in the jars.  Put 1/4 cup of batter in the jar - leaving room for plenty of frosting - and place the jar directly onto your oven rack (make sure the lid isn't on!).  Bake just as you would your regular cupcakes. 

When the cupcakes are out of the oven, wait for them to cool and frost them (most frostings will work, although I wouldn't recommend using whipped cream because it doesn't freeze as well). Then, seal the jars and freeze them.  Once they are frozen solid, decorate the jars however you like (ribbons and gift tags work well), pack them well (broken glass is worse than smooshed frosting), and ship them next day air.  If you are shipping them somewhere warm, you might also want to include an ice pack in the box to ensure that they stay cool during their travels.  

From:

The Cupcake Project

How to Dry Basil / Homemade Pizza

I have my own garden and I planted some Garlic, Sweet Basil and some Peppers. I'll expand it one day, but this is my first time doing it, so I'm taking it slow I guess!

 This is how it looked when I first started!

  This is how the basil looks now.

It would have been bigger, but I live on a base and maintenance comes by and does our lawn and weed wacked my garden! I was SOOO angry! Anyways, it grew back.

I read that you should trim all the bigger leaves so the smaller leaves can grow even more.

As soon as you cut your leaves you can smell all that sweet fragrance!

 I didn't clip too many, just enough to clear out more room on my plant.

 I rinsed off the basil and clipped off the parts that were bad/ bugs ate some. 

Chop your basil. Place on aluminum and heat at 350 for 7-10 minutes.

My oven automatically turns off when the timer goes, so I left the basil in there until it cooled down.

Once cooled, finely crush basil even more and bag or bottle.  And Voila! 

Enjoy on some delicious pizza or pasta!

 Usually, I make my own everything, but I didn't want to, I was a bit lazy.

 I used all sorts of various herbs in my sauce: Oregano, Italian spices, Garlic and of course my basil.

 Heat your pizza at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

And it was DELICIOUS!

How to make Lime Curd

What you need:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
• Pinch of salt
• 3 large egg yolks

 Directions:

1. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. 
2. Add sugar, lime juice, lime peel, and salt; whisk to blend. 
3. Add yolks and whisk until smooth. 
4. Fill Broiler-approved baking pan in oven and place water in it til half way full. Place your curd mix in a smaller broiler-approved baking pan or a silicone pan and place in water. Broil for 5-10 minutes, allowing it not to burn. 
5. Place in a glass jar and refrigerate.

How to make Grenadine Syrup

If you can't find grenadine syrup at a store near you, here's a way to make it!

• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1 cup sugar syrup
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar

Prep:

• Boil 1 cup water and slowly stir in sugar, mixing until sugar is dissolved.
• Mix in sugar syrup with pomegranate juice.