Thursday, March 26, 2009

Muffin mania

I really don't have an excuse as to why I haven't posted since March 16. Well, I did start the new job and all. It's been keeping me really busy during the day
and exhausted at night. Jen gave me a friendly reminder that my blog was quiet. When I made these muffins, I immediately got the camera. I needed something to take to a church social on Sunday. I have been wanting to try out my new Pampered Chef Muffin Stone (not pictured here), so I signed up for muffins. I have also been wanting to get rid of these orange-flavored craisins that I don't like to eat plain. Well, a quick look on the back of the bag and there I found this recipe for Citrus Burst Muffins:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt, optional
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup Orange-Flavored Craisins (pictured)
1/2 teaspoon orange zest (which I didn't have)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease or a line a 12-cup muffin tin. Combine flour, both sugars, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine milk, orange juice, oil and egg. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients stirring just until dry ingredients are moist. Stir in orange flavored craisins and orange zest. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full of batter. Sprinkle tops with pecans and sugar. (If you look closely, I mixed up this step and mixed the pecans right into the matter. No harm, no foul.) Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool five minutes in muffin tin. Remove muffins to a wire rack and cool. Recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but I got closer to 20. Enjoy!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Side by side before and after
















The before


As I was uploading the photos back from a USB memory stick to my newly restored, higher RAM computer, I came across these photos of the dining room before. Like, really before. Click here or here to see it during and after the rennovations. Amazing. I will have to post photos of the living room, too. It only had lawn chairs in it :-)



Our home rennovations can hopefully continue now that my salary is back to normal and I won't have to work at Cracker Barrel so much, so I will have more time. There are so many choices. I would love to have the basement waterproofed and refinished. We've talked about new windows. We need a new garage roof. The bathroom downstairs still needs a door. We would love to tackle the kitchen or maybe a garden and some landscaping. I would have hate to see the "to do" list on a fixer-upper!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Bake me a cake


It was a busy week last week. So when I realized that I promised one of my students a cake for his birthday Wednesday, I paniced. It was Tuesday after work and I was tired. I didn't have energy to run to the store for a boxed mix. Little did I know that I would find that the recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook (of all places) for yellow cake was easier than driving to the store to buy the cake.


I mixed the cake (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk, eggs, butter...items any self-respecting baker has) in a bowl and plopped it into a pan. While it cooked, I ate dinner and showered. I went to bible study while it cooled and when I returned, I mixed powdered sugar, butter and milk for the icing. Easy as....cake? Of course. And you should have seen the look on people's faces when I told them it was completely homemade....not even from a box. Priceless.


Actually...cheaper. I can't imagine those ingredients took any more time or money than a box of Betty Crocker and a tub of icing.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Cute little bugs


What a cute idea for a house-warming gift. These little bugs are creative, unique and adorable. I made these two as a trial, but am starting to get more creative to make more. All it takes is a little wire, a few beads and pliers and cutters. You can use all kinds of colors, shapes and sizes to make bees, dragonflies or butterflies. I got the idea from a library book.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Amy's shower


The secret crafts were for Amy's shower, which was a surprise. We rented a beautiful bed and breakfast, so I didn't want to go all out on decorations. I wanted something simple, that would make it unique for Amy. I decided on canning jars mainly because I was able to borrow them for free. I filled some of them with coffee beans and a vanilla votive and tied a simple real ribbon to the top. Amy loves coffee and the combination makes a heavenly smell. I also bought some teal candles and filled the jars with rocks and used a brown bow. I had most of these items at the house...I just had to buy the candles (33 cents each at Wal-Mart) and the ribbon, which was also on sale at Wal-Mart. I wanted to do one really cool centerpiece for Amy to keep. I had a blueish candle that was a gift, but NOTHING in my house is blue. I placed it in a clear vase ($4.99 at Christmas Tree Shoppes) on top of shiny teal rocks ($1 a bag at Christmas Tree Shoppes...LOVE that store) and tied a brown bow around the outside. My real craftiness came out in the beaded flower that I added to the outside for some pop. All it required was some wire and seed beads, which I also already had in the house.
I really enjoyed crafting these fun and inexpensive decorations. It's easy if you just take a little time, creativity and a peek around the house to see what is already there.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

It's official

I was offered a job for the rest of the school year! I am so excited. The best part about it is, I have a better shot at returning full-time next year, too. I will be teaching English learning support at York County School of Technology until June 3.
Apparently, I did a really great job in my first four weeks in the 12-week substitute position, enough to consider me for this position and one for next year. No more $95 a day!
I am so happy that I get to continue this teaching career and that it has been moving so fast for me. I really enjoy the kids and getting to know them and their learning styles!

Friday, March 6, 2009

My grammar is suffering

Since I left the newspaper 2 months ago, I can really feel my spelling and punctuation slipping. Actually, I can see it. I read my blogs and blush at the terrible mistakes I make. I spelled "by the way" "buy the way." YIKES!
When I teach, I write on the board a lot and find myself second guessing what I spell on the board. Just today I wrote affect and had to look at it twice before I knew I was right. I miss having the time to grab a dictionary and look it up before I spell it. I need to brush up on my old skills again.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Can't wait to show crafts

Monday was an unpaid snow day for me. I didn't realize how desperate I was to get my hands on some paper, scissors and cards. I spent the majority of the day crafting cute stuff. I can't wait to post photos.
I was amazed at what I could make with supplies I already had in my house. I found a great way to make a precious and unique housewarming gift and a beautiful decorative accent for candles. The ideas came from a library book (also free, by the way.) I know it's not nice to give you this little teaser, but I couldn't help it. I promise I will post them as soon as I have time to take the photos. I am getting better at that...you have to admit!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Who says you can't have hot breakfast in a hurry?

I always struggle with what to eat in the morning.
It's usually a granola bar, some jelly toast or the occasional bowl of oatmeal. In just a few more minutes, I can have a hot and healthy breakfast pita like the one you see to the right. I cook my breakfast while I pack my lunch so I am not standing around idle, wasting time. So, I turn on the stove and while the pan heats up, I make a sandwich. Then, I pour in the egg beaters. While they warm up, I grab a few snacks and a drink and throw it into my lunch box. For this pita, I sprinkled real bacon bits and a bit of mozzarella cheese into the cooking eggs for added flavor. And of course, I added some ketchup. On a busy morning, I bet making this is quicker than waiting in the drive-thru at your favorite fast-food restaurant.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Pasta perfect!


Nate and I don't eat a lot of pasta dishes, yet I have accumulated boxes and boxes of pasta in all shapes and sizes. As you learned yesterday, I love cold salads. So, I make pasta salad. It's much cheaper than the store-bought stuff and you can tailor it the way you want it. For the last batch, I boiled tri-color noodles and added a packet of Good Seasonings salad dressing. (SO good on sandwiches, salads, etc.) I added peas and onions.
For the second batch (at left) I used bow ties. I added pepperoni, little pieces of provolone cheese and finely diced onions.
Other add in if you have them are carrots, broccoli, corn and beans.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Asian Rice Salad

I love sushi and the flavor the rice has (which comes from rice vinegar and sugar). I also love cold salads with lots of vinegar. The more, the better. I experimented with this Asian Rice Salad. The photo is a little dark...I definitely need a new camera..but you get the idea.

2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled
1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped peanuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Mix it all together and enjoy!
I think it need a little more vinegar. It's a little plain. But I do like the crunch that the water chenstnuts and peanuts give it.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Chicken Corn Soup

Whole chickens were on sale at Giant Thursday, so I decided it was a good time to make chicken corn soup. I use my mom's recipe. I just sort of wrote it down. There aren't really measurements or any real directions. But, I love making it. It makes the whole house smell good, and I enjoy chopping, dicing and adding ingredients. It was a great way to spend a Saturday. I also made Asian Rice Salad...but that's for another day!

Here's what the directions say:
Cook whole chicken off with diced onions and celery and chicken bouillon cubes. Once cooked, remove chicken to cool and put diced potatoes in the broth. Bring to a boil. Throw in frozen corn, chicken and sliced hard boiled eggs. For dough balls, crack an egg in a bowl. Add flour and water until consistent. Make sure water is boiling when you add the  dough balls. Add parsley, pepper and salt.

I like to let my simmer all day to fill my house with the awesome smell. Enjoy.