FAST FOOD: Spaghetti a' la Spaghetti Squash

As of sundown tonite, Passover has officially started. Gone are the crackers, bread, cream soups, beer (sob), and cookies... But it also brings with it an amazing opportunity to try new recipes or modify old family favourites! I was skeptical that my kidlets would tolerate a squash instead of pasta but this meal was a HUGE hit and even my pickiest darling asked for seconds!

Spaghetti a' la Spaghetti Squash:
1 jar of favourite spaghetti sauce
1lb browned and drained ground beef or turkey
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 package of light cream cheese (optional)

The Spaghetti Squash Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 and prick all sides of squash with a knife. (I found this step highly therapeutic and may have overdone it a bit!) Lay squash in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour. After it's done baking set it out to cool, once you can handle it (without burning off your fingerprints), use a serrated knife and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and darker strands of squash-goo. Use a fork to scrape the sides and scoop out the spaghetti strings into a large bowl.

The Sauce:
Pour jar of spaghetti sauce into a pan and mix in ground meat, bring to a bubble over medium heat. Warm the cream cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds until soft and add to the meat sauce mixture. Stir until well mixed and serve over the spaghetti squash.
ENJOY!

Passover Recipe: Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

It's almost mean to give out this recipe at a Weight Watcher's meeting BUT I'm so glad they did because they are DELICIOUS! Now that Passover is upon us I'm very worried how my little window-lickers will survive without their usual munchies. These macaroons have been a huge hit! I tried to make them with my 4yr old but they were very messy and hard to control. That would really be my only complaint, as I like to find recipes she and I can make together. My suggestion would be to maybe drip the chocolate on top instead of trying to dip these flaky, crumbly cookies in. I think she could handle that although I doubt if any of the chocolate would make it on top of the cookies....

Chocolate Dipped Macaroons:
(from weightwatchers.com)
3 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups packaged unsweetened, shredded coconut
3 oz bittersweet chocolate chips or pieces chopped into bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one or two cookie sheets with parchment paper. (I skipped this part and perhaps this is why 4 cookies immediately fell apart when I tried to scrape them off the sheet.)
In a large bowl, whisk egg whites with sugar. Add vanilla and coconut; stir to combine.

Scoop up a level tablespoon of batter and form into a ball with your hands; repeat with remaining batter. Place each ball about 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake until tops start to turn tan about 15-18 minutes. Remove cookies to a cooling rack for about 30 minutes (and arm yourself with a sturdy spatula to scare off would-be cookie thieves).

Place chocolate in a double burner or heavy pot; melt over low heat, stirring occasionally. (I cheated and melted bits in the microwave in 30 second spurts, stirring often so it didn't burn.) Keep chocolate warm and pliable as you dip tops of cookies into chocolate. Place dipped cookies on a metal tray evenly spread so they don't touch; freeze until chocolate sets, about 20-30 minutes.

I've also seen these dipped on the bottoms and I think that might be easier too. I plan on making another batch as my first attempt has all but disappeared from the kitchen....hmmmmmmm! LOL! Enjoy!

(re) Purposeful: Meaningful Seder Plate

I couldn't be more excited for Passover to start! Well, now that I have the hametz (food with yeast and leavening in it) cleared out and the menu planned for the next 8 days... HA! In my enthusiasm I decided to hold the Seder meal at my house but ran into a small problem when I realized I don't own a Seder plate! I've had a friend ask me where you can purchase one because she wasn't comfortable ordering one online and being stuck with something she didn't like. After researching it a little I thought to myself: "Why not just make one?"
I have a lovely silver-plated platter that was given to me by my Grandma before she passed away, collecting dust in my hutch. It reminded me of my cake/plant stand project! After a productive trip to the Dollar Tree, I came home with a small, glass candle-stick holder and six, little glass bowls (and a TON of Luau decorations for my littlest's 2nd birthday party, but that's neither here nor there!).
After cleaning the platter, I used E-6000 to glue the candle-stick holder to the bottom of the platter. It sat all night while the bowls had a hot bath in the dishwasher.

Once I was sure the glue was dry and the bowls clean, I arranged them on the platter. I love the way it turned out! The next step is to Mod Podge the Hebrew words for each Seder ingredient on the bowls but I need to practise my calligraphy a little more.... Anyway, here's what I have now!

FAST FOOD: DIY Pizza!

My four year old has become obsessed with our kitchen! How I long to just walk away and let her take over family meals however, the thought of her weilding a sharp knife gives me pause... (cringe) On the last trip to the grocery store I tried to think of some meals we could create together and stumbled upon already made pizza crusts! (Insert lightbulb moment here!) We made one tonite, had a fun time and man, was it tasty!!!

It takes a little planning ahead so take advantage of naptime or go ahead and let them duct-tape the cat to the ceiling fan while you brown some hamburger and chop veggies for the toppings! We used lean hamburger, turkey pepperoni, green peppers (that no one liked but me), black olives, mushrooms and lots of mozzarella cheese! I spread the sauce on and let her sprinkle cheese to her little heart's content. The ingredients were all organized in little bowls (am I the only one with kids who are adverse to food touching each other?) and we plotted 4 spaces on the pizza for each family member. She had a lot of fun taking orders for everyone's slice of the pie!

Once it was loaded and the oven hot, I carefully placed our lovely pizza in the oven. We used the leftover chopped veggies and made a salad for each person, and set the table. She never got bored and loved sampling all the ingredients! It came out 10 minutes later, piping hot and soooooo delicious! I think the whole meal took under 30 minutes to make and I got a little bonding time with my favourite Sous Chef! :o)

Bon Appetite!

(re)Purposeful: Mod Podge Toilet Tank Lid...wha?

I was absolutely inspired when I stumbled across the blog: Mod Podge Rocks! (http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/) I think it may have changed my life! The very next day I sprinted to the nearest Hobby Lobby and bought the biggest jar I could find, ideas swarming through my brain as loud as a hive of honey bees! Alas, when I got home, life happened...the kids needed me, the laundry was starting to overgrow the bins, my husband was sure he was starving to death...sigh!
Last night something magical happened...the kids STAYED in bed and my dear husband went out with his brother!!! Oh yes, I had the house to MYSELF! It was if I could hear the lonely Mod Podge jar calling to me from my workshop.
I knew the first project needed to be more like a lab experiment. That way if something didn't worked or (gasp) was ruined, it would be a learning experience and not a giant blow to my crafty ego! Well we have a toilet tank lid in our downstairs bathroom that was dropped and shattered into three big pieces. You can't buy replacement lids...or so I was told at the 3 hardware stores I tried.  Out of desperation, I glued it together and put a dish towel over it.
                                                            Perfect starter project!!!

SO first I watched the tutorials for Mod Podging  on the amazing blog mentioned earlier! Then I got busy! I'm no seamstress so there's not a lot of fabric laying around but I scrummaged up a twin sized sheet that had seen better days.  I cut out enough to cover the whole lid and wrap around the bottom and coated the fabric with Mod Podge (MP) leaving it in the workshop to dry. This keeps the fabric from fraying and also hardens it so it's easier to adhere things to. After an agonizing hour I couldn't wait anymore so I covered the lid with a medium coat of MP and smoothed the (almost dried) fabric over it. (Lay it down slowly and rub all the bubbles out!) I treated the corners like wrapping a present and MP'd the folds to hold them in place.

Next step:  I scoured the internet for images of birds until I found one I liked and printed it out. Using the image as a template, I then cut out birds facing different directions from some fun scrap-booking paper. I took it one step further and cut out a different color for their wings and beaks, made branches for them to rest on and cut out a bunch of leaves in coordinating colors and patterns. I used the MP to glue the wings and things on the birds and then used it again to adhere all the cut-outs to the fabric-covered tank lid. (Just a note: lay out your design first so you can tweek it before you glue anything down, soooo much easier than starting over because it doesn't look right) After waiting 20 minutes or so I added another coat of MP over the whole thing to seal it.

It still needed a little something... a little black ribbon around the edge with a coat of MP to hold it in place, finished it all off nicely! I LOVE how it turned out and will probably be looking for excuses to use the downstairs bathroom from now on!

(re)Purposeful: Picture Frames Revisited...

After blogging about all my ugly picture frames I raided my storage space and dragged out a boxful in assorted sizes. I'm still perplexed at what to do with the teeny tiny ones but I have struck GOLD with the larger ones!!!
I found a frame for an 8x10 picture and spray primed it weeks ago hoping some inspiration would hit me. It started as a teal and gold, 90's ornate eyesore, but it's amazing how much nicer things look with just a layer of primer! After immersing myself in DIY blogs for a few days I found the idea of turning frames (with the glass still intact) into little, personal dry erase boards. The mark from the dry erase pen, wipe off easily from the glass and they look so cute hanging on a wall!
Rejuvenated from all the blog-stalking, I resurrected the sad frame from the bottom of the pile and got to work. I painted it with black latex paint and while it dried, I cut a piece of light-colored scrapbook paper to fit inside the frame. Then, after waiting the agonizing amount of drying time, I put it all together.
It looked great but there wasn't a good spot to put the pen! I lose things in a blink so there really needs to be a place to keep the marker close.... After digging through my little shoppe, I found a piece of a dresser handle and hot glued it to the frame molding. I used jewelry wire with crimp tubes to connect the pen to the handle part and TA-DAH!!!!

I gave this one away as a gift but plan on making one for my kitchen to keep track of groceries and the menu for the week! I love that all the hanging apparatuses are already in place (because it is actually a picture frame) so there's no need to come up with a solution for hanging it!