DIY Ornament Wreath

This is my favorite thing.  My favorite.  I have finally gotten most of the things I wanted to blog about right off up, and I saved the best for last.  After my crayon art, I was looking for another big craft project to occupy my time and satisfy my need for creativity.  Pinterest to the rescue!  I decided to make an ornament wreath:

There are a lot of really cute ornament wreaths out there on the Internet and Pinterest, but I LOVE MINE SO MUCH.  Okay, I am bias, because it's my favorite colors (purple and turquoise), and I spent hours on it, and it goes great in my apartment.  So great, in fact, that I might cry when Christmas season is over and I have to take it down.  I did this back in October (before my button ornaments, which btw, have been a rave hit among my relatives and friends, and I have requests now for them and people are even paying me for them, crazy).  I still love looking at it every day.

Here's some of the stuff I bought.  As another blog I looked at said, you need A LOT of ornaments.  I already had a couple bulk packs I was going to use, but even so, I spent like $25 on ornaments.  If I didn't already have any, I could've easily spent $40+ buying them.  I think it's worth it, but just beware. Not all the ornaments I bought are in this picture, not even close, actually:

Also, you will want to get unbreakable ornaments.  Not all mine were and I broke a few.  Plus, I would hate it if one broke on the finished wreath and ruined the whole thing.  Also, I bought a 12" wreath straw form, and the whole finished thing is over 16" across.  It's a good size to handle your typical Christmas ornament ball.  A smaller form might be overwhelmed with standard size bulbs, and standard bulbs are easier to fine in bulk (for cheaper).

To start out, you wrap the wreath form in ribbon.  I kept going with the same ribbon to make a bow to hang it from.  Then, I put ornaments around the outside of the wreath:

After this, I did spend quite a while (okay, hours), trying to plan out how I was going to position everything (and running out to buy more ornaments.)  I am a little too OCD for crafts sometimes.  (Yes, that is a beer in the background.)  I did have to let go eventually and just start gluing though.  You can't plan it all.

After I just sort of had a loose outline for where I wanted the big ornaments, and then started gluing with just a regular ol' glue gun.

When I was all done with the ornaments, it looked like this.  I had these tiny little black foam balls with sequins from Hobby Lobby that I added last, to fill in the gaps.  Here, I had just set a couple in place.

And then, I just added more ribbon (sort of weaved it through; it would've been easier to do it before I put the ornaments on of course).  I hung it on my wall with a 3M temporary hook.  The thing weights under 3 lbs.  I love the ribbon I found, btw.  Sheer purple/turquoise mesh, matches perfect!

Even though you can spend a lot on ornaments (a good idea would be to buy them half off after Christmas), I recommend making one of these!  It looks great and it was fun.

Veggie Jambalaya - 250 Calories Per Serving!

This is a miracle meal.  It's a miracle because it is so unbelievably good, and yet you can eat the WHOLE PAN for 1,000 calories.  Yes, I said the whole freaking pan.  This entire thing, if you were so inclined:

That calories count does not include the wine (darn it).  And you probably won't eat the whole pan.  You will be stuffed full after just one serving, or 1/4 of this - 250 calories!  This is crazy.  This should be national news.  And, if you don't believe me that it tastes amazing, I will tell you that this is my (meat-eating) boyfriend's favorite meal, even though it's vegetarian.  He begs me to make the stuff all the time.

The recipe calls for Emeril's Creole Seasoning, which you can buy pre-mixed in the store, but I highly recommend you don't.  Make your own.  I tried using the kind you buy once and it is just not near as good and the flavors are not as prevalent.

Ingredients:

1-2+ Tablespoons Emeril’s Creole Seasoning

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Green Pepper

1 Red Pepper

3 Stalks Celery

1 Large Onion

1 Medium Zucchini

1 Large Tomato

2 Tablespoons Chopped Garlic

2 Bay Leaves

1 Tsp Hot Sauce

1 Tsp Vegetarian Worcestershire

1 Cup Uncooked White Rice

3 Cups Vegetable Stock

4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste




Chop up all the vegetables.  Cook zucchini in ½ tbsp olive oil with a sprinkle of creole seasoning for 2 minutes.  Remove.   Add to the pan the pepper, celery and onion with 1 tablespoon creole seasoning and rest of oil).

Cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic, bay leaves, hot sauce, Worcestershire.  Add rice, and stir in broth and tomato paste.  Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add tomatoes and zucchini, with more creole and salt to taste  (at least 1/4-1/2 tsp of salt).  Cook ten minutes more. 

You can thrown some shrimp in it too, or any protein you'd like, really; however, it doesn't feel like it needs it.  It tastes like a complete meal. 

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins

Okay, here's something that's not my recipe, but I want to share my experience making.  I have always been a big fan of Starbuck's Pumpkin Muffin with Cream Cheese, and so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I had to try it!  And I have to say, they are even better than the Starbucks ones!

Here is the original recipe with the list of ingredients.  I followed it exactly, except I make my own pumpkin pie spice.  And I don't like clove or allspice, so I leave that out of the PPS.  When you make the muffins, there are three parts.

The batter (I do not have an electric mixer and just used a whisk and it was fine):

The filling (I found the first time I made them that rolling it in a bag and slicing it doesn't work at all; however, you should freeze it to firm it up, so that it doesn't spread all over the batter when you put it in the cup.  I just freeze it in a bowl and spoon it out):

And the topping (Using cold butter is a horrible process; room temperature makes it easier to work with):

First, you fill the cups with just a tablespoon or two of batter:

Then, you add a bit of the filling.  In this pic, it wasn't frozen enough, and it spread some.  My next dozen was better, because the filling was firm and scooped into balls:

Here's what happens if you don't freeze the filling.  It's more of a cream cheese muffin sandwich.  Still good, but not as cool or pretty:

Then you place the rest of batter on top, covering the filling:

And top:

You bake them at 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine needed the whole 25).  Here they are!

My family raved about these and ate them up immediately the first time I made them.  24 went fast!  I just made 24 more today for a belated "Friendsgiving" at my sister's and I can't wait to get more "ooohs and aaaahs," lol.  I'm especially glad that I don't have to worry about them only being at Startbucks for a month out of the year, I can make them anytime!

Pico De Gallo & Bean Enchiladas

In case you can't tell, I LOVE mexican food!  And my favorite thing to make are these enchiladas, which are vegetarian, and filled with refried beans and homemade pico de gallo.  Doesn't this look amazing?

First, I could do a whole entry on making pico de gallo, but I don't have a picture if just that, so I won't.  It's super easy though, and you should always do your own.  I make the pico, then save a little to mash avocados in and - bam - perfect guacamole.  For the pico, you need:

2-3 tomatoes
A red onion
Fresh cilantro
A jalapeno
Fresh lime juice
Salt

You really just chop up the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno in a proportion you like, and add everything else to taste.  So easy!  So good!  It's also an absolutely perfect guacamole base.  So, you're making two things at once.

I suggest refrigerating the pico at least overnight before you eat it or use it in these enchiladas, as it gets better as the flavors mingle.

For the enchiladas, you need:

Pico De Gallo
Soft Corn Tortillas
1 Can of Your Favorite Refried Beans
2 Cans Enchiladas Sauce
2 cups Cheese
Avocado (Optional - Mash with extra Pico for gauc)
Sour Cream (Optional)

These are my favorite beans to use:

I put the beans in the tortillas, then the pico, and about half the cheese.  Then I roll them up:

Top with sauce and the rest of the cheese, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes:

This obviously isn't a fancy recipe where I make everything from scratch, but it's a fantastic combination that's quick and easy.  It's also a great vegetarian alternative to "cheese and onion" enchiladas (boring).  I like to serve them with rice and a Corona!

Making Sushi & Spicy Veggie Rolls

If you're going to make sushi, I highly suggest you get Sushi For Dummies.  My sister got me the book last year for Christmas, and when I followed the directions exactly, the rice and everything else came out PERFECT.  Though it is an involved process (do it when you're in the mood to make a big production in the kitchen), it was actually easier than I thought it would be.

First, I bought everything I needed.  As far as equipment goes, you only need a rolling mat, which I got at the grocery store next to the nori for like $2.  I used a shallow dish for turning the rice and a piece of cardboard for a cooling paddle.  (Nothing fancy.)  You need nori (seaweed sheets), short or medium grain rice, and unseasoned rice vinegar (definitely not the seasoned kind, the book says you need to season your own), among other things:

I was amazed that the rice turned out perfectly.  I just followed the directions exactly.  You are supposed to toast the nori in the oven for 30 seconds first, so I did that too.  Then you put the rice on, and like magic, it sticks!  You can even then turn the whole thing over to make inside-out rolls, and somehow the rice doesn't fall off when you do.  I made a few types of rolls, including california rolls and rolls with shrimp.  My favorite, though, is just a veggie roll with spicy mayo:

Then you just roll it tight:

And slice it into pieces:

In this picture below, I have some inside out rolls.  They actually turned out to have a high rice ratio, but were still good:

I just make the nori-on-the-outside kind now because they are just as good and one step easier.

If you are wondering about making your own, you should!  It is a lot of fun and deciding what to put inside and trying different combinations lets you be a little creative.  Here's what I put in my favorite spicy veggie rolls:

Avocado

Red Pepper

Tomato (Optional)

Cilantro (A Must-Have)

Green Onion

Spicy Mayo (Mayo, Siracha, and a little Soy Sauce)

Silver Christmas Tree

So my Button Ornaments are creating much more of a buzz than I expected.  I have several requests for them, and my mom's friends are trying to pay me for them, lol.  It's too bad I can't find enough buttons!  Jo Ann's is sold out of most of their selection.  But anyway, speaking of Christmas, can I show you a spliced-together picture of my Christmas tree?  Okay.  Great!

I'm so excited.  I wasn't going to have a tree this year, but I picked this one up at Hobby Lobby for $65.  It's 6 feet tall, though skinny.  I found the mini tree skirt at Target today.  I got the silver tree in part because this is the first Christmas I've had my own place, so no stupid boys can tell me it's tacky.  It's a super girly tree and I love it!  Perfect.

Dessert Wins! Raspberry Almond Cupcakes, Key Lime Bars, & Red Velvet Brownies

I am a dessert person.

Addict.

Fiend.

I love sugar more than anything, and I love baking.  I have so many great wonderful awesome desserts I’ve made that I would love to blog about, but if I haven’t changed anything about the original recipe, it isn’t really mine to blog.  I will share a couple photos of my favorites, however:

Key Lime Bars, courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Red Velvet Brownies (oven pic), found through Pinterest on this awesome blog.

And, then, one of my mother’s favorites, these amazing Raspberry Filled Almond Cupcakes.  So, so good.  And they turned out perfect.  They are most moist, tasty cupcakes ever.  I know I mentioned in my Amaretto Cheesecake Truffle post that I love anything Almond, then there’s raspberry.  And cream cheese frosting.  Come on.  Come on.

Here were the cupcakes before frosted:

And the finished product:

After being in the refrigerator overnight, the gel firmed up some:

I’ve made some pretty bad desserts as well, but that’s the fun of Pinterest, finding the gems.  I highly recommend any of these three, as well as my new favorite, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, which I’ll be baking and blogging about this weekend.  (But here's a sneak peak pic from my last batch:)

Falafel with Cucumber Sauce

There's this amazing Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain in downtown Chicago called Roti.  Every time my boyfriend and I are downtown we have to stop by for some falafel and falafel wrap sandwiches.  But since we don't live downtown, and we can't have Roti all the time, I decided to make my own falafel.  I started with this recipe for Sean's Falafel and Cucumber Sauce.  Now, I don't know who Sean is, but I thank you!  This is now one of my boyfriend's and my favorite meals.  The only thing I do differently than the original recipe is use a combination of parsley and cilantro instead of just parsley.  This takes a bit of time to make, but it's very worth it.

Ingredients:

15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
pinch of cyanine
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying

And for the Sauce:

12 oz plain yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
2 tsp dried dill weed
2 tbsp mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Serve with (Optional):

Pitas
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes

First, mix together all the sauce ingredients and chill for at least 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, mash up the garbanzos with a fork until they're smooth.  (The original recipe says don't use a blender, so I never have.  This is most tedious part.)  Then, in a food processor, chop up the parsley, garlic, cilantro, and onion.  Stir it into the beans.  

In a small bowl, combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir it into the bean mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together.  Add more or less bread crumbs as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.

Heat an inch or so of oil in a skillet.  Fry each patty until golden brown on both sides.  Set aside on a paper towel to dry.

Serve them up in the pita with the sauce and fixings.  

Enjoy!

Chili Two Ways (Vegetarian or with Turkey)

Everyone thinks they have the best chili, right?  So I'm not going to claim that.  However, I am going to claim that my chili is way way way good.  And I'm also going to claim that any beef lovers out there would have no idea this chili has ground turkey in it instead of beef if you didn't tell them.  (In fact, I haven't always told, and when I do, people are shocked.)

Though the original recipe was designed around ground turkey, when I became (mostly) vegetarian a couple years ago I started making a vegetarian 3-bean chili version, which is also amazing.  All you have to do is add a third kind of bean, like black beans, instead of the turkey.  

The thing about this chili is that is tastes fresh and spicy and flavorful.  In addition, it only has 260 calories per serving!  What?!  That's insane.  I dare you to make it.  Really.

Bren’s Turkey Chili

1 pkg ground turkey (or add a third bean, like black beans)

1 cup onion

½ jalapeno (optional)

1 cup green pepper

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp olive oil

1 28 oz can crushed tomato

1 14.5 oz kidney beans – drained and rinsed

1 14.5 oz can spicy pinto chili beans

(All spice can be adjusted to taste, start with these and add more as necessary.)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cyanine pepper

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

dash of oregano

dash of pepper

Cook green pepper, jalapeno, onion, and garlic cloves in oil for 5-10 minutes.  Add turkey and cook until the pink is gone.  Then, add everything else and simmer for at least 45 minutes to an hour.

Top with fresh onion to serve.  Makes 8 servings.

Turkey Tetrazzini

So, even though I usually don't eat (let alone cook with) meat, Thanksgiving just having passed, I found myself with turkey on hand.  Not having a go-to turkey recipe, I thought back to high school, when I worked in the kitchen at a nursing home.  Most of the food there was what you would expect from a nursing home cafeteria, but sometimes some stuff was really good.  One of those good things was turkey tetrazzini.  I set out to create the dish just a couple days ago, combining tips and tricks from several different recipes, and I must say, the end result was fantastic!

Now, Turkey Tetrazzini is not a pretty thing.  So excuse the not-so-great picture.  It looks good to me, but that's because I know what it tastes like:

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 cup flour
1/8-1/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup milk
6 oz cooked pasta
1 cup diced cooked turkey
salt to taste
cheddar cheese
bread crumbs

Cook the onions, pepper, and garlic in the butter in a skillet.  Once soft, add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the flour, mixing until you have a roux.  Add the wine, stock, milk, and pepper, bring it to a boil, and stir until it starts to thicken up.  Simmer 15 minutes.  Add the pasta and turkey and salt to taste.  Add to a greased casserole dish and mix in about 1/4 cup cheddar.  Top with more cheddar and breadcrumbs.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes covered, then remove cover and cook 10 minutes more to brown.

Happy leftovering!

Amaretto Cheesecake Truffles

One year I got really creative and made cheesecake truffles in various flavors.  My favorite ones are the amaretto (anything almond or amaretto is pretty much my favorite, but I also made lemon cheesecake ones and chocolate-covered plain cheesecake ones:

Below is the recipe for the amaretto truffles, but you can basically just trade out the flavor extract you like (use vanilla for plain cheesecake), dip them in whatever kind of chocolate you like, and top them with whatever you want!  To color white chocolate, I've found food coloring doesn't mix well, but nestle sells green and red swirled white chips around the holidays that mix in quite nicely.

Ingredients:

16 oz Cream Cheese (Softened)

2/3 cup Sugar

1 teaspoon Almond Extract

2 Eggs

12 oz White Baker's Chocolate

Vegetable Shortening

Small Bag Sliced Almonds

Preheat oven to 350º.  Combine cream cheese, sugar, and extract in electric mixer and whip on low speed until combined.  Add eggs one at a time.  Poor into 9" pan (if you don't have a spring form pan, it doesn't matter, as this part doesn't need to be pretty) and bake at 350º for about 30-35 minutes.  Cool cheesecake for 1 hour, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 

Scoop cheesecake into small balls using a melon baller or tablespoon and place on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet.  Freeze cheesecake balls overnight.

Melt the chocolate using a double boiler (or other method that works for you).  Add shortening into chocolate until the consistency is smooth and easy to work with (about 2 teaspoons).  Dip each cheesecake ball into chocolate and coat, then replace on cookie sheet.  While the chocolate is still warm, add sliced almonds to garnish. 

Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve.