1. Wednesday, February 15, 2012

    How to Make: Hershey Kiss Rice Krispy Treats

    Happy belated Valentine’s Day! I saw this Valentine’s treat floating around on Pinterest and had to try it out yesterday. Who can resist a rice krispy treat shaped like a hershey kiss??

    So, here’s the recipe/how to:

    What You Need:

    • 3 T Smart Balance
    • 6 cups puff rice cereal
    • 1 10 oz bag of marshmallows
    • Aluminum foil
    • Funnel

    What You Do:

    1) Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

    2) Once the butter is melted, add the marshmallows to the saucepan and keep stirring…

    …the marshmallows will start to melt, keep them moving until…

    …you basically have fluff! Now, either make a peanut butter and fluff sandwich or continue to step 3.

    3) Once the marshmallows are melted, combine the mixture with the 6 cups of cereal and mix it all up.

    4) Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes so you don’t burn your fingers and because the mixture is easier to work with when cooler. I learned this the difficult way by diving in too soon. I’m still chipping marshmallow off my rings!

    About here is when I realized I hadn’t had a rice krispy treat in a long time. So, of course, I had to taste test. Ummmm, rice krispy treats are AMAZING!!! Who knows how much I ate during this step :)

    5) Spray some cooking spray in the funnel and then pack the funnel with the mixture.

    6) Plop the shape onto a cookie sheet to cool a little more. I got 4 kisses out of the mixture and made a heart with the extra. I ate so much during step four that I was probably suppose to end up with 5 kisses!

    7) Wrap each in aluminum foil.

    8) Make little tags and attach to the top…and you have a hershey kiss!

    These are really adorable! Next year I’m going to make more to hand out to everyone!

  2. Monday, January 30, 2012

    How to Make: Potato & Kale Side Dish

    My mom emailed me this recipe a while back (by a while I mean over a year…amazing I found the email) and I’m just getting around to trying it out now. This was our first time eating kale, which is a form of cabbage. What’s so great about it?

    • Contains sulforaphane, a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties
    • It’s been associated with lowering cholesterol
    • Packed with vitamins A, C, and K - all antioxidant vitamins
    • Loaded with iron and calcium

    Wow, how can what looks like a pile of leaves be so nutritious?

    What You Need:

    • Red potatoes - I had 8 or 9
    • Bunch of kale (I bought a bag at Trader Joe’s and used 1/2 of the bag)
    • 1 onion, sliced
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 t tumeric
    • 1 t pepper
    • Salt to taste
    • Olive
    • 2 T water

    What You Do:

    1) Fill a medium pit with water and turn on heat to boil. While water starts to boil wash the potatoes and quarter. I decided to leave the skins on.

    2) Boil the potatoes until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Don’t over boil, you don’t want them to mushy as they won’t hold up in the following steps.

    3) While the potatoes are boiling slice the onion and mince the garlic cloves.

    4) Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic with a little olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then, add the potatoes, pepper, tumeric pepper and salt.

    Continue to saute for 5-7 minutes until the potatoes start to brown.

    5) Add the kale and 2 T of water and mix everything together. Lower the heat and cover the pan. Let everything simmer together for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    6) Finished! The kale will cook down, but not nearly as much spinach.

    We ate this dish with some delicious marinated steak. The mix of greens, potatoes, and meat was incredible…..dare I say better (and healthier) than steak house creamed spinach??

    PS: I’m a featured stylist on Style Says, check it out!

  3. Monday, January 23, 2012

    How To Make: Braided Bead Necklace

    I was inspired to make this necklace by More Design Please and this past snowy Saturday finally motivated me to give it a try. This is a really simple project that produces a rather “wow” and impressive product.

    What You Need:

    • Heavy weight thread or string (I’m using quilting thread here)
    • Chain, 2, 7 1/2” pieces (use more or less depending on how long your want your necklace)
    • 2 jump rings
    • 6 bead tips
    • Clasp
    • Beads

    What You Do:

    1) Cut 6, 10” pieces of thread and string on about 7.5” of beads on each.

      2) Take two bead strands and string one set of ends through one bead tip. Tie a triple knot as close to the beads as you can and close the bead tip over the knot.

      3) Do the same thing at the other end and for the other strands. You’ll end up with 3 double strands with a bead tip at each end.

      Not sure if this helps, but I put a dab of jewelry glue on each knot before closing the bead tip. In my mind it makes the necklace super strong :)

      4) Attach a jump ring to one end of both of the chain pieces.

      5) Hook the bead tips to one of the jump rings, and close the bead tip hooks.

      6) Tape (or somehow secure) the chain to your working surface and braid the bead strands. Note: Scotch tape and wood table do not mix. Some of the table finish may have peeled off with the tape. Whooops!

      7) When you get to the end of the braid, hook the end of bead tips to the jump ring on the other piece of chain. Be sure to hook them in the order the braid ended to maintain the braid.

      Attach a clasp to the ends and finished!

      I’m so in love with this necklace that I’ve worn it 3 days in a row! Next, I plan to make a bracelet using just the braided technique. There are so many cool bead and metal/chain combinations floating around in my head!

    • Sunday, January 15, 2012

      How to Make: Lentil Tacos

      Another lentil creation! As I’ve mentioned before, I love lentils. It’s a young love because it wasn’t long ago that I had no idea what to do with lentils, and they were never on my shopping list. Now, I see them as a really versatile staple and always have a supply on hand.

      I originally got this recipe from the Skinny Bitch Ultimate Cookbook, and have modified a bit because you can’t have tacos without a little sour cream and cheese!

      What You Need:

      • 4 cups water
      • 1 cup dried green lentils
      • 2 T diced white onion
      • 2 T olive oil
      • 2 T tomato paste
      • 2/3 cup diced cherry tomatoes
      • 2 T diced red onion
      • 1 minced garlic clove
      • 3 t lime juice
      • 1 T chopped cilantro
      • Yellow corn taco shells
      • 1 sliced avocado
      • Fat free sour cream
      • Fat free shredded cheese
      • Salt and pepper to taste
      • Hot sauce

      What You Do:

      1) Chop the white onion and rinse the lentils in cold water.

      Add the 4 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the lentils and chopped white onion. Return to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes (lentils should be soft).

      2) Drain any remaining water from the lentils and place half of the lentils in a food processor with 1 T of olive oil, the tomato paste, and some salt and pepper. Puree until well combined.

      Thanks bro-in-law for my mini food processor from my Christmas wish list!

      3) Pour the lentil mixture into a bowl and mix in the remaining, whole lentils. This is the “meat” part of the tacos.

      I realize this isn’t that pretty at this point…..things get better looking!

      4) In another bowl mix together the cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and remaining oil. Set aside, this will be the salsa to top the tacos.

      5) Slice up the avocado. I typically slice a piece, eat a piece, slice a piece, eat a piece…I can’t help it :)

      6) Build the tacos! I filled in the following order: fat free sour cream, fat free shredded cheese, lentil mixture, salsa, hot sauce, avocado slices.

      The flavors were amazing, if only we had margaritas too (and some warm summer outdoor eating weather)!

    • Monday, January 2, 2012

      How to Make: Spaghetti Squash

      Happy New Year! So, I haven’t created any recent bargain outfit posts. In fact, my last bargain outfit post was on November 30, which is rather sad because my blog started with bargain outfits.

      It’s not that I’ve been lacking in bargains to share. The holidays just got in the way and I’ve been consumed with baking, crafting, sewing, and running around preparing for festivities. I should mention, it’s quite possible I haven’t been getting dressed and living in yoga and pajama pants lately. I’ve been on Christmas vacation since 12/23 (and I’m not even a teacher….just one of the things I love about my job) and there’s been a lot of wonderful lounging going on.

      Tomorrow I’m back to work and will get back on track with bargain outfits! For now, here’s a new recipe I tried out this week, spaghetti squash. I was inspired by Megan of Cooking Whims. Just a note, I MAY have gone to the grocery store around the corner in my pajama pants to buy this squash. Yes, I’m that lady. Don’t worry, I only go out in plain pajama pants that could pass for work out clothes :)

      What You Need:

      • One spaghetti squash
      • Any veggies or ingredients you have around. I used cherry tomatoes, garlic, onions, spinach, and ground turkey.

      What You Do:

      1) Place the squash on a baking sheet and pierce the squash with a few holes so it doesn’t explode in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.

      2) While the squash is baking, chop up the veggies and….

      …brown the ground turkey.

      3) Check the squash after an hour of baking, it’s done when you can easily pierce it with a knife.

      The juices or sugars that came out of the squash while baking reminded me of Chihuly glass sculptures.

      4) Cut the squash in half length wise and scoop out all the seeds.

      5) I knew this was somehow going to become spaghetti, but this entire process amazed me! Using a fork, scrape along the squash halves and you all of a sudden have a pile of squash spaghetti.

      6) Saute the onions and garlic in a large pan for about a minute, then add the spaghetti squash, ground turkey, and tomatoes.

      7) Add the spinach once everything is heated through and cook until the spinach has wilted.

      And, enjoy! This was the first time I’ve had spaghetti squash and I’ll be making this again! It’s super easy, and really doesn’t take long. You just have to be around while the squash bakes.

    • Thursday, December 29, 2011

      How To: Take in a Dress

      I admit, while doing some last minute Christmas shopping I bought a few gifts for myself. My holiday shopping may have turned into a “one for you and one for me” situation. There were so many great sales, how could I say no?

      I scooped up a dress at Banana Republic for an amazing price. Originally $188, marked down to $21.97 and an extra 40% off…..for a final price of $13! So exciting, except my size was no where to be found. So, the sale MADE me buy a dress that’s a size too big.

      I promised myself I would fix it up this week instead of throwing it in my alter pile. And, I did.

      Below is a before picture. The top fits perfectly, but the waist down is about a size too big. There’s little waist definition, and the skirt has just a little to much fabric creating a billowy look.

      I’m not an expert at this, but here’s how I took in the dress:

      1) I inspected the seams and decided which ones would have the most impact. I decided to take in:

      The two vertical back seams on either side of the zipper (how cute is the exposed zipper?). This will help create definition in the waistline. And……

      Both side seams, starting at the waist all the way down to the hem. Taking in the side seams will also help create waistline definition and a sleeker fit in the skirt.

      2) I turned the dress inside out to start pinning the seams and encountered the dress lining. Eeeeeeek!! A lining means you have to take in the dress and the lining, right?

      My secret is that I never take in the lining, especially when just altering down a size or two. It really doesn’t make a difference.

      So, at the bottom of the dress I clipped the thread on each side of the hem attaching the lining and the dress.

      And pulled the lining to the top, exposing the seams. The picture below shows one of the side seams.

      3) I started with the side seams and let out the hem just enough to expose the seam running to the bottom.

      Here’s the end of the seam. This step is important to maintain a clean hemline.

      4) At the bottom and top of the seam there’s probably a part where the seam is sewn down.

      Clip this, it will make pinning and sewing much easier.

      5) Pin along the original seam, taking in as much as needed.

      6) Sew along the line you pinned. This may seam (haha, get it?) intense, but it’s really not. All I’m doing is following the line of the original seam.

      When finished sewing the side seams, stitch the open hem by hand.

      7) Do the same pinning and sewing process for the two back seams. As you can see below, the back seams are at a diagonal. When you get to the end, it’s important to sew right off the fabric. Then, tie a knot leaving a little room to breath so the fabric doesn’t pucker.

      And, finished! The changes aren’t dramatic, but what I’ve created is a fitted waistline that shows definition. Also, the skirt is much sleeker and doesn’t have all the extra fabric.

      This really only took about an hour total. I’d say about 30 minutes pinning and trying on and then another 30 minutes sewing. Totally worth my hour to save $175!

      Sorry for the headless pictures. It’s vacation week for me and makeup and hair styling has become almost non-existent :)

    • Tuesday, December 27, 2011

      How To Make: Cheesecake Bites

      Well, I took a little holiday blogging break because I got so busy prepping for the holidays and visiting with friends and family. We had a great Christmas and I’m back now! I’m planning on sharing some holiday baking, outfit, and bargain recaps over the next few days.

      I made these mini cheesecake bites to bring to a pre-Christmas celebration. I love this recipe because it’s decadent gone healthy and still tastes amazing. Also, it doesn’t give you that overly full, I want to take a nap, food coma feeling.

      I modified this a bit from Kim Barnouin’s Skinny Bitch cookbook.

      What You Need:

      • 1/4 cup walnuts
      • 1//4 cup pecans
      • 1 T canola oil
      • 1/2 cup rolled oats
      • 1/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
      • 6 T maple syrup
      • 1/2 t cinnamon plus 1/4 t
      • 1 t vanilla extract
      • 1/2 t almond extract
      • 3 pinches salt
      • 8 oz fat free cream, 1/3 fat, or vegan cream cheese
      • 2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice plus 1 t
      • 1 T whole wheat white flour
      • 4-5 fresh or frozen strawberries

      What You Do:

      1) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

      First, make the crusts. In a food processor, combine the walnuts, pecans, rolled oats, 2 T of sugar, 2 T of maple syrup, 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/2 t vanilla extract, all of the almond extract, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until well combined (about 20 times). After 20 pulses, the mixture should stick together.

      2) Coat a mini cupcake pan with non-stick spray. Drop 1 T of of the crust mixture in each section. Wet your hands with water and press the crusts in each section.

      According to the recipe, the crust mixture should have been enough for 24 cheesecake bites. I only got 12 and made another batch of crust to get to 24. I must have been scooping out generous tablespoons!

      3) Bake the crusts for 7 minutes at 350 degrees.

      4) While the crusts are baking, get started with the filling! In the food processor, combine the cream cheese, 2 T of maple syrup, remaining sugar, 2 T of lemon juice, the flour, 1/4 t of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and 1/4 t vanilla extract.

      Pulse until well combined and the mixture looks creamy.

      5) Top each crust with 1 T of filling. Guess I measured correctly here because I had plenty of this mixture to go around!

      Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.

      6) Let the cheesecakes cool, then chill for at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, remove the cheesecakes from the pan using a knife or toothpick to pop them out.

      7) Last step, make some delicious strawberry sauce by combining the maple syrup, remaining lemon juice, and a pinch of salt in the blender. Puree until combined. drizzle over the cheesecakes when serving.

      I really loved the crusts, it’s a healthy spin on regular dough type crusts. The mixture of the nut and maple syrup flavors is perfect. I’m planning on trying a whole pie using this crust recipe.

    • Thursday, December 15, 2011

      How To Make: Holiday Cards

      Last year I started the tradition of making homemade Christmas cards and wanted to keep it up this year! I love projects like this, I find them really soothing.

      I guess soothing is sort of a strange description, because such projects actually take over our living room for a few days creating complete chaos. In this case, glitter chaos! There’s glitter everywhere, I found some in the bathtub this morning!

      What You Need:

      • Green felt
      • Glitter
      • Ribbon
      • Stencil
      • Mini bells! (how cute)
      • Blank cards and envelopes

      What You Do:

      1) Using a stiff card stock, draw the shape you want on your cards and cut it out. This is going to be your stencil, I went with a wreath.

      Trace the shape on a piece of felt.

      2) Before cutting, I folded the felt so I got 4 wreaths from each cut.

      3) Keep tracing and cutting until you have a pile of wreaths.

      4) Next I made a bow for each wreath. Fool proof way to make a bow? Create two “bunny ears” as shown below, then just tie the ears in a knot.


      Pile of mini bows!

      5) This step doesn’t take as long as you might think, I promise! Take a cute mini bell and stitch it to a wreath.


      Place a mini bow above the mini bell and thread through the knot (this hides the thread). Stitch back to the other side of the wreath and tie a knot.

      Keep doing this until you have a pile of mini wreaths with mini bells and bows.

      6) Dot the wreath with glue and sprinkle with glitter.

      And here’s the start of a happy, glittery mess!


      Repeat over and over until you have an army of decorated wreaths!

      7) Adhere the wreaths to the cards using one of these. These little adhesive rollers are amazing. You have to get one.

      Finished! Hope these hold up in the mail! I really love the simplicity of the ivory card stock and the wreath!

      Unrelated, but noteworthy, Anthropologie on Newbury Street is having an extra 30% off sale items sale!! Perfect for last minute gifts.

    • Monday, November 28, 2011

      How To Make: Tahitian Pearl (real or fake?) Necklace

      A few summers ago I bought strands of tahitian pearls from the bead guy at the Wellfleet flea market. Bead guy said the pearls are real and I decided to believe him! I even tried the flea market haggling thing and talked him down $2 from the original price.

      Real of not, I think these tahitian pealrs are pretty and finally decided to create a necklace with them. I’m not a jewelry making expert and this is another make it up as I go project. You can use any type of beads to try something similar.

      What You Need:

      • Beads - enough for 3 strands
      • Beading wire
      • Bead crimping tool
      • Wire cutter
      • Crimp beads
      • Clasp

      What You Do:

      1) Cut 3 pieces of beading wire. You want to cut enough to reach your desired necklace length, plus about 4 inches so you have 2 inches of loose wire at each end. I’m going to do some some braiding here, which will shorten what you think you have. So, add another inch or so for this.

      String beads onto each strand, leaving about 2 inches of loose wire at each end.

      2) String a crimp bead onto one end, pushing it close (but not right up against) the beads.

      3) Get out your crimping tool, which looks like pliers. In the picture below you can see how there are two grooves to place the crimp bead. The inner groove is where you start to initially “smash” the crimp bead together. The outer groove gives it a second smash to really secure things.

      Here, I’m smashing with the inner groove, and will smash again after with the outer groove.

      Here’s what it looks like after crimping:

      4) Now that one end is secured with the crimp bead, loosely braid the strands. This will give the necklace a fun twisted look.

      5) Once braided, add a crimp bead to the other end to secure. Your beads will look something like this:

      6) At one end add a fancy bead (purely for looks, a crimp bead, and one part of the necklace clasp. Be sure to add everything in the order shown below.

      7) Pull the ends of the wire through the crimp bead and fancy bead to create a loop by the clasp as shown below.

      Crimp the bead with the crimping tool and do the same thing at the other end. Trim the extra wire.

      Finished!

      I was so happy with the finished product that I wore it today!

    • Sunday, November 20, 2011

      How to Make: Meatball Sandwiches!

      My Italian friends might mock these meatballs because I’m using ground turkey instead of beef. But, these are a bit more heart friendly and still taste pretty good….at least I think so.

      This is my first time making meatballs and I really like this broiling method, it was so fast!

      What You Need:

      • 1 lb lean ground turkey or beef — I’m using turkey here
      • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
      • 1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
      • 2 garlic cloves, minced
      • 1/2 t dried parsley
      • 1/4 t each dried basil, thyme and rosemary
      • 1/4 t each salt and pepper
      • 1 jar tomato sauce
      • Whole wheat bread

      What You Do:

      1) Finely chop the entire onion, pepper, and garlic cloves.

      2) In a bowl, mix together all ingredients except for the ground turkey. Use 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in this step.

      3) Add the ground turkey and mix together well.

      4) Create one inch balls with the meat mixture and place on a broiler pan. I don’t have a broiler pan and used a cookie sheet instead, which worked well.

      Broil about 4-6 inches from the heat for 8 minutes. Turn, and broil another 4-5 minutes until meatballs are cooked through.

      5) Combine the meatballs with the remaining sauce in a pan and heat on the stove top until boiling. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

      6) Cut up the delicious bread, stuff with the meatballs and sauce and top with some shredded cheese.

      I have a habit of eating waaaaaay too much bread while cooking. Cooking makes me hungry, and if a delicious baguette is part of the meal I can’t help but start munching. Sometimes I munch until there isn’t enough bread left. Today, I was good and didn’t eat any so there was plenty to make the sandwiches!

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    A collection of everything Courtney...from my clearance rack style, to creative projects, to things I just like.

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