Freezer Cooking Friday: Menu Plan 10/29

I know I skipped Freezer Cooking Friday for the last two weeks, but it’s back! It’s time for another round of cooking ahead and getting my freezer stocked up again. I’ll be heading to Sam’s Club on Saturday morning bright and early (if 10am qualifies as bright and early) to pick up some staples and meat. I’ll be buying one 5 pound pack of ground beef, and one large tray of chicken breasts. Then Saturday or Sunday afternoon – most likely during naptime – I’ll be whipping up some dinners to have later in the week.

Here’s the plan:

Ground beef:

• 2 lbs taco seasoned meat; I use Old El Paso seasoning, but I want to try to make my own using this recipe.
• 1 tray of Easy Beef Enchiladas, using 1 pound of beef
• 2 loaves of Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Chicken Breasts:

•  Cheddar & Cracker Chicken - I still haven’t made this even though it was on the plan a few weeks ago. It’s at the top of the list, now!
• Cheddar Beer Chicken in the Crockpot – Cheese, beer, chicken... I'm on it.
• Crockpot Salsa Chicken, Freezer Style - super easy, and so yummy. I also discovered this is a good mix for nachos! Just shred the chicken after it's cooked, mix it all together with cheese while still warm so the cheese melts, and dip or top chips. Yum!
• Crockpot Orange Chicken - can't wait to try this! Its cheaper than takeout, that's for sure.

So, that's the plan. Be sure to check back next week to see what I actually finished and have in the freezer! I'll also include reviews of any new recipes that we tried. Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in my Freezer Cooking Friday series!

Recipe: Easy Beef Enchiladas

I don't even know how I started making this recipe, but I whipped it up one time for my parents back in my single days, and it's been a hit in my family ever since. My kids even love these enchiladas, and that's saying a lot right there. The recipe has been adapted a little bit over the years here and there - sometimes rice and/or refried beans will be added - but for the most part it stays pretty basic. I hope you love it as much as we do.

Shannon's Easy Beef Enchiladas

Photos Coming Soon!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 packet Taco Seasoning
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pack flour tortillas, small or medium, whichever you prefer - base it on your pan size
• 2 cups chredded cheddar cheese (I prefer Sharp)
• 2-3 small cans or 1 large can Old El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce (my fave) - amount depends on how saucy you like your enchiladas

Brown ground beef with onion until cooked through. Mix in taco seasoning according to instructions on packet. Remove from heat.

Pour about 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of greased baking dish and spread around. I usually use a 9x13 glass dish.

Place one tortilla on a plate, and spread about a teaspoon of sauce around entire tortilla. Scoop meat and onion mixture on tortilla, then sprinkle with cheese. Roll, and place seam down in pan.

Continue with the rest of tortillas until you either run out of meat or space in the pan.

Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, making sure all of them are covered. I also like to make sure the sauce gets down in between the enchiladas - if they're packed tightly in the pan, I just scooch (technical term) them aside a bit as I pour the sauce.

If you're freezing the enchiladas to cook later, STOP HERE. Cover the pan in foil, then wrap in foil again. If you're using a smaller pan, like an 8x8 foil pan, cover in foil, then slip into a freezer bag. Make sure you mark the package somehow that's Enchiladas. No one likes a mystery pack in the freezer! When you're ready to bake the enchiladas, thaw, remove foil, then continue the steps below.

Top entire dish with shredded cheese according to your taste. We love cheese in this house, so I usually use a full 2 cups on the top.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until it's nice and bubbly and the cheese on top is melted. Tip: If you like crispy, or slightly burnt cheese, leave them in a bit longer. We happily discovered this one time when using an unfamiliar oven timer.

Dig in and enjoy!

The great thing about this recipe is that it's easy to adapt to your tastes. The measurements aren't exact; use as much or as little sauce and cheese as you like. Add more vegetables, use chicken or turkey instead of ground beef if you like.



Recipe: Crockpot Salsa Chicken

If you're a crockpot nut like me, you're going to love this. The only thing better than throwing something in the crockpot in the morning to be ready that evening is just dumping the premixed ingredients out of a freezer bag into the crockpot. No fuss, no gathering of ingredients, just dump it, turn on the crockpot (a very important step), then go!

If you've been paying attention, I've started a series called Freezer Cooking Fridays right here on this blog. This series stemmed from my newfound love of Freezer Cooking, so I've been trying to combine Freezer Cooking and Crockpot Cooking. The results have been great so far! It's simple: take your favorite Crockpot recipe, gather ingredients, do any prep work needed, put everything in a freezer bag, and pop it into the freezer. Then when that busy morning comes along, toss everything from the freezer bag into the crockpot, set it, and you're done! You don't even have to thaw it out, which works out great for me.

So, are you ready to try it for yourself? Here's a perfect recipe to get you started with Crockpot Freezer Cooking...

Crockpot Salsa Chicken - Freezer Style

photos coming soon!

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 jar of salsa or picante sauce (regular size jar)
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can of corn, drained, or about 2 cups of frozen corn

Combine ingredients in freezer bag, place in freezer. Done!

Night before Cooking Day: take bag out of freezer and leave in fridge overnight. If it doesn't thaw a little bit, you might have a hard time fitting the frozen chunk into the crockpot.

On Cooking Day: Dump contents of freezer bag into crockpot, and cover. Cook on low 8 hours or until it looks good. If ingredients aren't frozen, cook on low 4 hours or until chicken is no longer pink.

Enjoy!

Typography Tuesday on Wednesday - Subway Art

Subway Art, or Subway Sign art, has taken the crafty blog world by storm. It's everywhere. And you know it's a thing when Restoration Hardware picks up on it and is selling it, too. Or maybe Restoration Hardware started the whole thing, I'm not sure.

Anywho, Subway Art is certainly trendy right now. It's inspired by the vintage signs found in subway stations with the different routes/trains listed. Something a little like this:

These are reprints that are being sold be Restoration Hardware. I love the look of them; clean, simple, straight, and not much extra space (or "white" space).

If you check out their selection, you'll see these reproductions are a tad bit spendy. So, crafty people out there in blogland are creating their own versions of subway art, and some of them are quite nice, in my opinion. This type of art is being adapted to many different things: family rules, wedding invites, holidays, birth announcements, etc. Below are a few favorites I've seen out there...

A birth announcement I created (of course I had to throw in something of my own!)

Simple Crafter - Free Printable!

Saved By Love Creations 

Barn Owl Primitives on Etsy

Those are just a few examples of what my crafty friends are creating out there. If you have Photoshop and want to do this on your own, Saved By Love Creations has a fabulous tutorial. Check it out, and get creating!

Freezer Cooking Friday: Recipes to Try

Today's Freezer Cooking Friday consists of a list of recipes that I want to try, and those that we've enjoyed over the past week. I didn't do any freezer cooking this week, but we have been enjoying the fruits of my previous labors! I love having a stocked freezer.

Here's what we had in the last week:

• Monday: Enchiladas (recipe coming soon!) - this was the first time I tried my regular enchilada recipe for the freezer. It was a hit! They weren't soggy, or too dry, so I'll be making this one ahead again soon. Really soon. I love enchiladas.
• Tuesday: Hawaiian Chicken in the Crockpot, from Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer. Another yummy one that's always a family favorite. It's so easy to throw everything in a ziploc bag to freeze, then on cooking day, just dump it into the crockpot. Dinner is done!
• Wednesday: Tacos - pre-cooked and seasoned ground beef, thawed, reheated in microwave. Such a timesaver.
• Thursday: Leftovers for me and the hubs, chicken nuggets for the kids. Also known as "cop-out" night.
• Friday: Typically our day to eat out, or dine with parents, which is the case tonight (spaghetti!).

The freezer stock is getting low, but we're on vacation next week, so I won't do another session of cooking/prepping for probably another two weeks. But I can still hunt down recipes in the meantime, and get a headstart on planning. Or at least, planning the way I plan - lists in notebooks.

Recipes I want to try in my next cooking session:

• Cheesy Rigatoni Bake, Daily Dish Recipes - Looks so cheesy! I love cheese, so I know this would be a winner
• Cheddar & Cracker Chicken, What's Cooking Chicago - This was on my list to try last time, but I ran out of chicken. Definitely doing next time. Again, cheese.
• Pepperoni Roll-Ups, Dinner with the Donnells - I love pizza, the kids love pizza, and who doesn't like crescent rolls?
• Taco Meat - a staple in our house
• Enchiladas - see above
• Crockpot Orange Chicken, The Pursuit of Happiness - this one looks really good, so I think I'll make it this go 'round.

Well, that's a start. Have you tried Freezer Cooking yet? Try it! You won't go back to those harried weeknight dinner times, I swear. Enjoy!

Pondering: Is A Cash-Only System the Way to Go?

I'll admit it: I'm terrible with money. I always have been. And even in spite of my attempts to manage my money better, I'm still terrible. Confession: I LOVE spending money. It doesn't even matter what it's being spent on, most of the time. I like to shop, I like to buy things, I like to have things. I'm sure there's some psycho-analytical reason for all of this, but I've never had it evalutated. Maybe I should.

When I was in college especially, I would say, "I'm too young to worry about money", and I would spend every cent my parents sent me. Then the next week when another check came in the mail, I would do the same thing.

Now that I'm older (wiser?) and have a dual-income household to manage, that way of life is long gone. But I'm still not managing things very well. I use my debit card for everything, and claim to keep a running tally in my head, but I'm really not that great at math. I've been burned living this way many times, and Wells Fargo is loving having me as a customer, I'm sure.

So where does that leave me? Pondering going cash-only, that's where that leaves me. But is that the way to go? I know there are more than a few financial "gurus" out there who claim that it is the only way to go, but will it work for me? Maybe I should challenge myself to not use my debit card for a month, and only use the cash that's in my pocket. That would certainly be an interesting blog series!

I'm thinking what I might try is this: pay bills out of each paycheck, then withdraw cash for everything else. Things such as groceries, gas, eating out, etc. would all be paid for with cash. I'll have to do more research on the Envelope system.

What are your thoughts? How do you handle your family's budget?

Duh, Pinning.

It is true. I can't.stop.pinning. I pin at work, I pin at home, I pin on the go. It's ridiculous. I'm an addict. I can't help myself.

There is always new stuff on Pinterest, and I want to make sure I see it all. New recipes, new crafty ideas, new funny photos...the list goes on. My favorite categories are DIY/Crafts (obviously), Recipes, and Kids. There are so many great ideas and so much inspiration all in one place it's almost overwhelming.

Here are some of my recent Pinterest favorites:

I love Star Wars humor.

This original idea was for storing scrapbook materials (stickers, specifically), but I think it would be great to use in the kitchen, to hold all of the recipe printouts that I've found on Pinterest. A Spinning Cookbook. Oh, I better copyright that. Spinning Cookbook © <-- and I totally just googled how to make that symbol. 

Baked Penne Pasta. I had this for dinner just last night and it was yummy! I made it ahead as part of my Freezer Cooking Plan last week; took it out of the freezer yesterday morning and baked it for dinner. I liked it, the kids liked it, we'll be having it again!

So, that's what I've been pinning. What have you found lately?

A Day in the Life of a Working Mommy

My typical weekday looks a little something like this:

• 4:30am: Husband's alarm goes off; he's out the door in 15 minutes flat.
• 6:30am: Alarm goes off
• 6:39am: Snooze alarm goes off
• 6:45am: Feet hit the floor, and I'm up and running...or, sort of.
• 6:50am: Jump in the shower before the 2-year old wakes up, otherwise forget the shower
• 7:00am: Out of the shower, waking up children
• 7:05am: Getting dressed, waking up children
• 7:15am: Argue with 5-year old about wardrobe selections while trying to convince 2-year old to get a diaper change and get dressed.
• 7:30am: Tracking down shoes, while feeding dog, letting dog out and hopefully back in, getting snacks, juice boxes, and mommy-juice (aka coffee)
• 7:45am: Out the door, in the car
• 7:55am: Drop 2-year old off at school, try to avoid altercations in the super-tiny parking lot
• 7:58am: Convince 5-year old that Mommy's tired of the Backyardigans cd, listen to something else.
• 8:20am: Drop off 5-year old at different school
• 8:30-8:45am: In the office.
• 8:50am: Rest, enjoy the peace and quiet of the early morning office and coffee.
• 9:00am: Work, work, work.
• 6:00pm: Out of office, in the car
• 6:20pm: Pick up 5-year old from school
• 6:25pm: Car snacks and discussion of the day with 5-year old
• 6:45pm: Home
• 6:46pm: Routine tackle-hugs by 2-year old
• 7:00pm: Dinner (on a good day)
• 7:15pm: Convince children vegetables are necessary, and that we can't always have chicken nuggets (daily battle)
• 7:55pm: Cleanup
• 8:00pm: Kids Bath/Jammies/Cuddles/Storytime
• 8:30pm: Bedtime
• 8:35pm: Mommy/Daddy TV/blogging/crafting time
• 10:00pm: Off to bed to start all over again in the morning

Wow. I've never written it all out before Scary stuff. I'm fortunate in that I have a very flexible employer where I don't have to dress professionally everyday. If I had to fit in trips to the dry cleaner or finding matching heels and stockings everyday, I'd be in serious trouble.

What's your day like?

The Ultimate Blog Challenge - Again

I've kind of gotten bad about blogging in the last couple of months, so I decided to challenge myself to keep up with things a little better. I enjoy writing, but it seems to have fallen by the wayside lately as I keep adding things to my neverending to-do list. So, for the month of October, I've joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge - 31 days of blogging, or one post everyday. If you've been following along, you may remember that I've done this once before, back in April. I didn't quite make the 31 posts in 31 days, but I was pretty darn close. This time around, my goal is to make it all the way. I know I can do it!

I do have some plans to try to keep it interesting around here: Freezer Cooking Fridays is one new series I've started. Take a look at the first post in the series and you'll see what I'm talking about. I've also started Typography Tuesdays recently. It's fun to have a day of the week tied in with specific posts. It makes it kind of easy to figure out what to write about! The first post was done on a Thursday, but it will be moving to Tuesdays starting this week. Stay tuned!

There will also be product updates, what's new in my shop, recipes, and tutorials posted over the next month, so please check back and see what I'm up to!

Crafting Update - The Redneck Wine Glass and More

I've finally gotten around to updating my Etsy shop with a few things I've been working on.

First up, the Redneck Wine Glass! I first saw these on a message board/forum that I frequent, and thought they were hilarious. I apologize, but I didn't keep track of where the original idea came from, so if you're out there, great job!

These glasses are so much fun! Imagine sitting on that couch in your yard with your friends drinking your favorite refreshing beverages with this fancy stemware. You'd be the talk of your neighborhood! Personalization of your choice is included in the price. This one was made for my brother-in-law Brian, who wanted one as soon as he saw it.

Another new addition to the shop is a few more designs of the checkbook covers that I just love.

These are so much better than those boring bank-issued covers, and just as sturdy. Matching card holders are available, too!

That's about it for now. I've also been working on I Spy Bags, but haven't gotten any pictures yet. I'll be writing up a tutorial on those soon! Your kids will love them.

Now I must go and snack on some more peanut butter balls to maintain my sugar levels at super-high. :)

The Ultimate Blog Challenge - Progress

As you may remember from a previous post, I joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge for the month of April. The idea was to write 30 posts in 30 days in order to gain more readers, and also to make it habit to blog regularly. Well, here it is, Day 26, and I'm behind. My original goal was to complete the challenge, obviously, and I still might by bombarding my readers with posts, but I feel like I've still accomplished something great by doing this Challenge. It got me to think. I've been thinking a lot about my blog; how I can improve it, how I can make it look better, how I can draw in more readers, and keep them coming back for more. It has also gotten me to write more, which is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but for whatever reason, I just would never sit down and do it.

I essentially have 4 more days to write 9 more posts, for a total of 30. Can I do it? I'd like to think I can. Will I continue to blog regularly after April 30? You betcha. I've really enjoyed sharing what I've been up to, and my creative juices are flowing! I want to craft more, I want to bake and cook more, and I want to share it all and hopefully inspire one or two people along the way.

What would you like to see? I love feedback, please share! And thanks for reading. :)

Get Rewarded with Swagbucks! It Works!

Are you using Swagbucks yet? If you do a lot of internet searches using Google or Bing, you could be earning Swagbucks just for using the Swagbucks search engine, and you'd get the same results. Your search results will actually be pulled from Google, AND you'd be earning points, or bucks, so it's a win-win!

How does it work? Like I said above, you would do your internet searching just as you would with any other search engine, only you would randomly be awarded points, or bucks, that you can later redeem for great prizes. I use the Swagbucks Toolbar so it's super-easy for me to search for anything and everything. Even if I'm going to a page that I use regularly, and know the address, I'll just type it into the search box for another chance to earn Bucks. The more you use it, the more you'll earn!

What can I get? There are tons of awards to choose from in the Swag Store. My favorite is the Amazon gift cards. Anything I'm looking for is generally available on Amazon, so that's what I go with. There are also gift cards available for Starbucks, Target, Restaurant.com, Travelocity, and so many more. You could even get cash through PayPal. There are prizes other than gift cards, too, such as a Digital Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, or a Wii. Lots of options!

How can I earn more? You can earn plenty of Bucks just using the search option, but there are other ways to earn as well. Random Swag Codes are put out during the day, and they can be entered into the Code box on the main Swagbucks page. You can check their blog, Twitter and Facebook page to see when a code may be available. You can also earn Bucks through Referrals; just refer your friends, write a post like this one on your blog, Tweet about it, or post on Facebook. Let others know that you're getting free stuff, and they'll sign up too!

Does it really work? YES! I've earned over $100 in gift cards since I first started using Swagbucks last year. You can too!

Go here to sign up and start earning.

Note: If you signup for Swagbucks through the links provided in this post, I will get referral credits. I hope this doesn't sway your decision! :)

Craft Envy and the Working Mom

Confession: I have serious craft envy. I have a day job where I have spare time throughout most days; this spare time is generally spent hopping around to different crafty blogs to see what others are creating out there. I see so much creativity and think: these are moms, like me, but they don't have a day job. This makes me envious. Then I think, well, if I didn't have to work, I could get so much done! I could work on all of the projects that I see and want to try for myself, but just don't have the time! Sewing, baking, Cricut crafting, fun with mod podge...oh yeah, and spending more time with the kidlets fits in there somewhere, too.

I realize that the grass is always greener on the other side, and I have no idea what daily life is like for these other craft mavens. Maybe they're envious of someone like me for getting to come in to an office full of adults having adult conversations everyday (it's not all it's cracked up to be, let me tell ya). Not likely, but you never know.

For now, I do have to work, so I have to make do with late-night craft sessions and cramming too much into weekends. I have to remind myself to be thankful for what I have: a job that supports my family, two beautiful healthy children, and a husband who puts up with me jumping from project to project without rolling his eyes too much.

Maybe I'll just stop sleeping so I can finish everything I want to do!

Birthday Bubbles!

As I was poking around Target yesterday searching for the perfect birthday gift for my 2-year old, I discovered this Bubble Generator. Now, having a 4-year old and a 2-year old, we go through a lot of bubbles. I've run out of breath countless times trying to keep them happy by blowing bubbles. If you have kids, you know one thing: kids love bubbles. Lots of them. It doesn't matter if you're tired, if you're blue in the face, or if you're about to pass out, they want more.

I was originally leaning towards the bubble blowing lawnmower, but then I saw the Bubble Generator, and was intrigued. Once I saw the "Sale!" tag, I was sold. It was $10! That seemed like a deal to me, so into my cart it went.

After naptime, we were all outside enjoying the beautiful day, playing "Moo Ball" (basketball with a cow ball that says Moo on it), when I decided to bring out the bubble machine.

O.M.G. BOTH of the kids, and their daddy, went crazy. It took longer to get out of the packaging than it did to get it set up. It came with batteries (6 AA) and bubble solution (4 ounces - have more on hand), so it was ready to go right out of the box. And believe me, that's a good thing; I don't think anyone could have waited for me to round up the materials for this thing.

I turned this sucker on and was immediately blown away. The bubbles! They were everywhere! I think the 2-year old's jaw literally hit the ground. Bubble dancing commenced.

I was able to sit back and watch, instead of turning blue trying to keep the bubbles going. It was a hit, no doubt about it.

If you want to be wowed, you could check out the Amazing Bubble Generator on Amazon, or just go to Target, where it's considerably cheaper, even when not on sale.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

My boy turned two today. It's hard to believe that this little guy was so tiny, not so long ago. It seemed like he would never grow into those jammies!

And here he is, two years later; getting taller by the day, learning from everything he sees, and also learning how to be a little charmer. You have to watch out for those sparkling blue eyes.

He's mischievous, sweet, daring, cuddly, happy, charming, and a bundle of energy all rolled into one adorable little person.

And I wouldn't have him any other way. Happy Birthday to my little guy - never change.

Coming Soon - More Recipes, Tutorials, and More!

I don't have a super awesome post for you all to read today, and I apologize. I wanted to be more organized with this whole blog challenge thing, but I'm slipping a bit. Hopefully I can get caught up over the weekend! So, since I don't really have a plan for today's post, I thought I would let you know what you can expect to see here within the next few weeks. Will that work? I hope so.

Coming up on Sugar Plum Delights:

• Crafty Tutorials: Covered Button Badge Reels and Ribbon Key Fobs


• My quest for the perfect chocolate peanut butter Easter egg recipe - have one?


• New projects I've been working on...top secret!


• What I accomplished on my recent mini-break (I love that term, mini-break)


• Craft Show preparedness - watch the madness as I get ready for a show on May 14th!


• I might, just might, attempt a video, but don't hold me to that. No promises!


• Container gardening with a 4-year old


• The Birthday Boy


• Etsy shop updates

Is there anything specific you would like to see? Just leave me a comment and let me know! I'd love to have more reader feedback.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

I think last night was quite possibly one of the worst nights of my life. As I mentioned the other day, we took a trip north to visit my parents. In Pennsylvania. We live in Georgia. That's 12 hours. With a 4-year old and an almost 2-year old. Yeah.

The drive up wasn't too bad; it seemed to go quickly, the kids slept well for the most part. Of course young mister Pukey McPukerson displayed his newfound affliction - car sickness - before we even got out of the state of Georgia. So that was fun. Little did I know that that was only the beginning! But we made it in about 12 hours, then crashed as soon as we got in the door at my parents' house. The hubs and I weren't worth anything for the next two days, but the kids and grandparents were happy, and that was the point.

So, we had a nice visit, did lots of fun things, but then it was time to leave. We decided again to drive at night that way the kids would sleep, wouldn't need as many stops, blah blah blah. You know what they say about 'best laid plans'? Prime example right here.

We got everything loaded up and hit the road around 8:30, figuring that was plenty of time for dinner to have digested at least a little bit. Well, 30 minutes later, Pukey McPukerson made another appearance and we had to stop. Got that cleaned up, jammies changed, everything's hunky-dorey. For about two hours.

As soon as it wasn't my turn to drive anymore and I finally had a chance to take a nap, the little man decides he doesn't want to be in his carseat anymore, after vomiting yet again. I figured I would be able to lay down on the floor of the van and cuddle with him a bit and we could both nap. Disclaimer: I know kids should be buckled into carseats at all times, and I know it's illegal, so don't send me hate mail.

Have you ever spent the night on the floor of a moving mini-van with a sleeping toddler using you as a cot? It's not pleasant. Thank goodness for stow and go seating is all I'm saying. So, it's 2am, I'm trying to get comfortable with a vomitous kid sprawled out on top of me, and I'm completely miserable. I decide then and there that we're flying to grandma's house next time. I don't care how much it will cost! We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, so I've been out of town with severely limited internet access, which is why things have been a little quiet around here. I'm now behind in my posting for the Ultimate Blog Challenge, but I'll be catching up throughout the rest of this week and over the weekend. Stay tuned for more!

**If this post seems kind of rambling, it's because I'm still sleep-deprived. :)

Easy Weeknight Recipe: Monterey Chicken

I know it's Saturday, but I decided to go ahead and post an easy recipe, perfect for a weeknight! My friend Jennifer discovered how easy and delicious Monterey Chicken is, and I had to try it.

Here's what you need:

• McCormick Grill Mates Monterey Chicken Seasoning


• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - I used three rather large pieces for the 4 of us


• Lawry's Seasoned Salt


• About 2 tbsp of butter or margarine

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease your baking dish with Pam, just in case.

Coat both sides of each chicken breast lightly with Lawry's, then again with the Monterey Chicken seasoning. Place in dish.

Put a little splap of butter or margarine on each chicken breast.

That's it! Put them in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the juices run clear, then serve and enjoy! Tonight we had rice and veggies on the side, but of course any side will do.

Yum!

If you try it, let me know what you think! The seasoned chicken is also good in salads, and I have a hunch it would be quite tasty in tacos or sandwich wraps as well...I think I'm going to have to try that. There are also other varieties of the Grill Mates seasoning I'm going to try. This one is so good, the others can't be that bad, right?

Enjoy!

- No, this was not a sponsored post. :)

Flashback Post: Placemat Purse Tutorial

I'm going to cheat today, and bring back a post that I did way back in 2008: My first ever tutorial! I hope you enjoy!

Ta Da! Welcome to Shannon's First-Ever Tutorial! I was browsing around sewforum.com today and saw a very nicely done version of a placemat purse that I had never seen before. The person who posted her pictures didn't post how she did it, so we (me and a few others on the board) decided that we could just figure it out. And we did! I was at work all day, so I started playing around with a piece of paper, and ended up with a very nice office paper purse, complete with staples. I'll have to post that picture, just because it's funny. Anyway, I have a ton of placemats lying around just waiting to be made into bags, so I got home and after putting my neanderthal/toddler to bed, I started to play with a real placemat. And this is what happened:

Alternative Placemat Purse Tutorial (better name is pending - I'm open to suggestion!) 1. Start with your standard placemat. This one is 13” x 19”.

2. Fold in half lengthwise.

3. Rotate

4. Fold bottom up until you have the desired size of your bag. Pin and sew all the way around (you don’t have to do the bottom unless you want a top-stitched look). Make sure you use a heavy duty needle or a walking foot, depending on the weight of your placemat. This one is heavily interfaced, so it was pretty thick at the corners.

5. After sewing, you’ll have two pockets on the inside. It’s magic! Feel free to attach any closure at this point; snaps, Velcro, ribbon, whatever. I didn’t attach a strap to this one as I didn’t have any cord on hand, but I would attach it here.

6. And, voila! The almost finished placemat wallet/purse. This is relatively small, so I envision it to be used as a wallet while traveling, shopping, clubbing, any time you don’t want a large clunky bag with you. Great for moms! I didn’t permanently attach the ribbon, since I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it or not. I may embroider it.

Variation: I didn’t add any depth to the bag, but here’s what you can do: 1. Flip bag inside out 2. Cut about a 1-inch notch out of each corner at the bottom of the bag (I hope you can visualize this..Word won't let me copy the cute little graphic I drew) 3. After cutting, smoosh corners together and sew across the smoosh on both corners. I’m sorry, but I don’t have a picture to illustrate this, and my drawing skills are limited. If you have any questions please ask! 4. Flip bag right side out, and now you have a little depth to your bag!

There you have it! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, and I'll do my best to help you. Special thanks to tzb123 on sewforum for my "A ha!" moment! I'll be sure to post pictures of the bag when I do get it completed with strap and embellishment. This should give you the basic idea, though! Go on! Be creative!

4/8/11 - As of this repost, this purse is STILL sitting in a box without a strap. I think it has pins in it, too. Don't tell anyone...

To Grandmother's House We Go...

Note: This blog may or may not contain information about crafting.. :) Tomorrow night we're hitting the road, driving from Atlanta to the middle of Pennsylvania. Overnight. With a 4-year old and an almost 2-year old. It's a 12-hour drive. To say I'm not looking forward to it would be the understatement of the year. So why do we do it? Because flying the four of us to Harrisburg would be ridiculously expensive and too much of a hassle. Why not take the train? Honestly, I would love to take the train; but again, ridiculously expensive, and it would actually take longer than driving would. Go figure.

So, to grandmother's house we go. Over the river and through the woods, times 5 (at least). We've made this drive so many times, it really barely phases us anymore. We've come to the conclusion that traveling at night is the best option for us; there's less traffic, the kids sleep at least part of the way (bliss), they need fewer stops and less entertainment. Of course they're generally so excited that they're going to see their grandparents that they finally literally pass out from sheer exhaustion. But that's okay, I'll take it.

If I had been thinking over this past weekend, I would have made up some entertaining projects for the kidlets to do while they're literally jumping up and down in their car seats with excitement. I've been wanting to make "I Spy" bags for quite a while, but for some reason just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. That actually might be a fun project to do with Grandma while we're there, then they can play with them on the way home. Hmmm...

Also while we're visiting, I'm planning to tackle a few craft projects, such as the simple skirt I mentioned yesterday, a fabric business card holder or two, and maybe a few zippered pouches.

The one downside of visiting my parents (aside from the drive) is the lack of high-speed internet. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive! I can't even pick up 3G on my iPhone most of the time, since they seem to live in a 3G void. How can that happen in this day and age? But, I committed to posting for 30 days, so I'm going to do it. I might have to hang out at McDonalds everyday and take advantage of their free wi-fi, but at least they have a playground...