All Things Hold Together

Okay, I am a blog slacker lately, I know, but on the bright side, my long-time readers are used to it!

I really wanted to do tons of awesome Valentine’s Day posts and here I am, only a week before the big day, just now kicking it off.

And what better way to kick off a week of Valentine’s Day posts than with Melt and Pour Soap Cupcakes all dressed up for V day?

I left the “frosting” white and, even though the Jewelry Box colorants are not non-bleeding, it has been a week and there has been no bleed whatsoever.  If you are worried about bleeding, make the frosting pink.

I colored clear soap with the red colorant and soap-safe glitter, and added fragrance.  I poured a thin layer (~1/4 inch) into a silicone pan.  (I only wanted a couple of hearts, so I used a muffin pan, but if you want to make a bunch, use a brownie pan.)  I poured the rest of the soap into the silicone cupcake liners.  When the thin layer of soap was set, I popped it out and used a small metal heart cookie cutter to cut out the hearts.

When the cupcake was set, I made the frosting using white melt and pour soap, with added fragrance.  I stirred it with a fork until it was thick and poured/scooped it onto the cupcake, which was sprayed with alcohol to make it stick better.  Then, I sprayed the top with more alcohol and sprinkled on more glitter!

While the frosting was still freshly poured, I popped in the heart.

Give one to someone you love.  Just don’t let them eat it!

4 green or red bell peppers
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
3/4 cup salsa
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup uncooked converted long grain rice
1 & 1/4 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Mix everything (except the peppers) together.  Cut tops off peppers and clean out seeds.  Fill peppers with filling mixture.  Place in 5 – 6 quart slow-cooker, sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover and cook on low 3-4 hours, until filling is heated and peppers are soft.  Enjoy your super easy, super yummy dinner!  Add a dollop of sour cream for extra awesome.

My sister and brother-in-law bought me these awesome silicone cupcake cups fro Christmas, Regency Sili-Cups.

Unlike other silicone cupcake cups, Sili-cups gold their shape without needing a muffin tin and the edges are crisp little zig-zags.  They are, in a word, awesome.

I decided to play with my Soapylove Jewelry Box colorants and make some soap cupcakes.

I melted clear soap and mixed in fragrance, color, and the sparkle dust soap-safe glitter that comes with the color set, then poured the soap into the cups.

I played around with filling the cups to different levels.

While the soap hardened, I melted white soap and added the same color and fragrance.  These colorants are not non-bleeding, so I used the same color for the cupcake and frosting.

The “frosting” needs to be stirred and stirred until it cools and thickens enough to hold shape when it is poured on top of the cupcake base.  Then, you only have a few second before it gets too hard to pour, so be prepared to work quickly.

Spritz the cupcake with alcohol just before putting on the frosting.  Then, pour the soap frosting on, using a spoon to shape it.  If it floops of the edge of the cupcake when you pour it, just smoosh it back on; it gives it a more realistic frosting appearance.

Spritz again with alcohol and top with a sprinkle of the sparkle dust.

I loved them so much, I made lots of different colors!

Long name, amazing treat.

I make these for the boys to have for snack.  They are slightly better than other sweet treats because of the protein in the peanut butter and the whole grain in the cheerios.  And they’re addictively delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 6 cups honey nut cheerios (store brand works fine)

Measure out the cereal in a large bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan.  Add marshmallows.  When marshmallows are partially melted, add the peanut butter.  Stir and melt over medium-low heat until all ooey-gooey.  Do not burn!  You might want to take it off the heat when there are a few unmelted marshmallows left and stir until smooth.

Pour over cereal and stir until well blended.

Pour into a buttered 9×13 pan.  Press down with buttered hands (or sprayed wax paper or silicone spatula).

Let cool, then cut into yummy, awesome bars.

Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday.  I know that was 2 weeks ago, but this is my first post since then.  Now it’s time to dive into 2010 with a nice slow-cooker recipe.

This week, I decided to get back into the habit of menu planning.  This was not a New Year’s resolution; it’s something I have been meaning to do for a long time.

I was having a hard time coming up with ideas, so I went to a Kraft Kitchens e-mail newsletter and started clicking on links.  I came up with a week’s worth of dinners, made a list, and went to the grocery store.

The first recipe I made was this Slow-Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork.  It uses barbecue sauce and chicken broth for the flavor.  I also added a little bit of the juice from the canned pineapple.

What You Need!

1-1/2 lb. boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, drained
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked

Make It!

PLACE meat in slow cooker; top with onions.

ADD barbecue sauce and broth; cover with lid. Cook on LOW 6 to 7 hours (or on HIGH 4 hours).

STIR in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, on LOW 30 min. or until rice is tender.

The recipe calls for a boneless pork loin, but I substituted pork chops because they were on sale for pennies on the dollar compared to the pork loin.  It required a bit more work, but the new kitchen shears I got for Christmas made quick work of that.

I like that the recipe calls for adding the green pepper near the end of cooking.  I never thought of doing that, but I hate how mushy peppers get in slow-cooker recipes.

Tip: cut up the peppers when you are putting everything else in the slow-cooker and put them in a container in the frige until needed.  That way, you only have to do veggie prep once and it’s easy-peasy to throw the chopped peppers, pineapple, and rice in a the end, without having to lug out your cutting board and knife again.

Both my husband and I liked this dish.

Sorry that I don’t have any pictures.  I didn’t realize I would like this so much that I would want to blog about it.

Looking for a last minute gift?  Looking for a way to wrap your gift of homemade baked goods, so that the outside of the box is as irresistible as what’s inside?  Look no further.

Grab your scrapbooking paper, decorative punch, double-sided tape, paper cutter or scissors, and embellishments, and your box, and let’s get started.

Cut a strip of paper almost as wide as your box (or smaller, if you want the box to show in the margin).  Next, cut a coordinating strip of paper about three-quarters the width of the first strip.

Use the decorative punch to punch one side of the smaller paper strip.

Wrap the bottom paper around the box, making sure it is centered, creasing the corners.  Secure with double-sided tape.  I like to slip the paper band off and make sure the tape is pressed down securely and the edges are creased.

Repeat with the second strip, aligning the non-punched edge with the edge of the bottom paper.

Add an embellishment to the top of your box.  Three-dimensional scrapbooking stickers are perfect.  I also used gift tag stickers, with the recipient’s name written with a ball-point glue pen, from Martha Stewart Crafts, then topped with super fine glitter (also from Martha).

For an alternate layout, punch both sides of you top strip and center it over the bottom strip.  There are so many ways you can make this project reflect your own unique style.

You can fill your boxes with anything from soap to fudge and everything in between.

And, if you see this post after the holidays have passed, just remember that you can use this technique to decorate boxes for any occasion.

Christmas is only a couple of days away, so I am sure you can’t possibly be looking for a last minute Christmas dinner menu, but if you are, you’re in luck.  All of these recipes have been tested out on my parents-in-law to rave reviews.

Appetizer

Sweet Onion Dip

Dinner

Slow-cooked Cranberry Roast (I doubled this and cooked it in a 6qt slow cooker)
Potatoes Anna
Sauteed Peas and Red Onion
Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
Rolls

Dessert

Holiday Fudge Torte

For a quick and easy to make, but lovely to receive, Christmas gift, try making vanilla-infused sugar.

Just place a few vanilla beans in an air-tight jar and fill with sugar.  Allow to sit for a few days and the sugar takes on a wonderful vanilla essence.  This vanilla sugar can be used in place of regular sugar in everything from baked goods to coffee.

For added elegance, print out a white mailing label and punch the top and bottom with a decorative edge punch before applying to the jar.

Gingerbread cookies are a must at Christmas.  Martha Stewart has a recipe for Gingerbread Snowflake cookies that is just dreamy.  Since I do not have a snowflake cookie cutter, I made gingerbread trees, instead.  I piped the outline with royal icing and topped with Wilton Cake Sparkles.

Note: Martha’s cookie recipe is a bit spicy for younger children.

I am so far behind on Christmas crafting, baking, and blogging.  I just can’t seem to convince myself that it really is almost Christmas.  The dusting of snow we got today helped.  Hopefully, the 3 – 6 inches we are supposed to get tomorrow will even more so.  I did make Gingerbread Cookies today, though.  I will post the recipe and pics after I decorate them with icing tomorrow.

I thought I would link to a couple of my Christmas posts from last year.  Here are a couple of simple melt and pour soap tutorials that are fun to make, give, and receive.

Christmas Tree Soap

Snowflake Soap