MINI MILK CARTON

The pink milk carton is one of the projects that the ladies made at my Valentine Workshop yesterday. They filled them with pink M&Ms and finished them off with red or pink ribbon and clips. They all turned out so cute. Most the ladies loved their cartons. I did get a few grumbles about folding and putting the cartons together (the hardest part) but most got the hang of it and completed them with their own adorable little touches.
The second picture is made from the mini milk carton but the top is removed. It was folded the same way. I added a scallop trim border (to resemble lace). Placed two lip glosses in the small SU! flat cello bag. Added a epoxy sticker. Tied a cute ribbon on top and stuffed some bag filler in to finish it off.

PAN ROASTED CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES

Here is another easy and yummy recipe I came across in my cookbooks. I made it this week and everyone enjoyed it. That is a good thing, it s hard to please everyone. I enjoyed it because it reminded me of summer flavors. I miss the grilled taste of meats and vegetables. We grill almost every meal when the weather here in Ohio is warmer. From Spring through Fall we use our grill. My husband has really become a good charcoal cook. He makes a mean BBQ chicken.

Sorry the pictures are not the greatest. I tried to get a decent picture to show all the yummy goodness. Make sure you cut your squash thick so that it does not get "mushy" while the potatoes are cooking.

RECIPE:

2 large potatoes, unpeeled

1 medium zucchini

1 medium squash

1 large red onion

1 large red bell pepper

4 T olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tsp. rosemary, divided

1/2 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 egg beaten slightly

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut potatoes, zucchini and squash in half lengthwise then cut crosswise. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and squashes in 1 inch slices. Cut bell pepper and onion into 1 inch chunks, Place vegetables into a Bar pan and toss with 2T olive oil. Press garlic over vegetables. Sprinkle with half the salt, pepper, and rosemary. Toss well and place around edges of pan. Combine bread crumbs, rosmary, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, set aside. Lightly beat an egg in a shallow dish. Dip chicken breast in egg and then into bread crumbs and arrange in the middle of the bar pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Makes 4 servings.

Valentine Matchboxes

Here are a couple pictures of some Valentine matchboxes I made for an upcoming workshop. The ladies will be surprised when they see what is hiding inside- I hid some candies in all of them and put a gift certificate in a couple of them. Yeah!
There are so many things that you can put in these little boxes. They would be perfect for: weddings, showers, classroom parties, church get-togethers, hanging on the Christmas Tree, Secret Santa office gifts, presenting wallet sized pictures, giving a pair of earrings, mini photo albums or gratitude books. The possibilities are endless.


I think they all turned out so adorable. I love all the mix-matched color patterns and textures. I can't get enough of the pink and red these days. I used up some old SU! papers in shades of pink and red. They shades of colors worked out perfectly.
I have really got good use out of my SIZZIX, Dies, and punches these past few weeks. The dies are sturdy, and nearly indestructible. I love everyone I own.

Material:
SU! Exclusive MATCHBOX Bigz XL Die (#114890), SCALLOP SQUARE PUNCH (#112081), HEART TO HEART PUNCH (#113694), misc. buttons in red and pink tied on with white string.

If you don't already have any of these items listed above (in pink) I highly suggest you purchase them for your Valentine goodies. I consider these "Must Haves". The purchase of all these would qualify you for a FREE SAB set from the pink catalog at the right of this blog. Email me if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.

MOJO123

I played around with the MOJO Monday sketch again today. I thought this sketch looked clean and crisp and wanted to keep my image the same. I used string to hold the two buttons together and put a small piece of the ribbon between the two and pulled the string tight. I like the way it turned out. I had never done this before.

Material:
Razzleberry Lemonade DS paper. Melon Mambo card base. Melon Mambo ribbon. Triple Heart Punch. Non SU! buttons.

I am in the Valentine mode. I have been making cards, pennants, tags, bookmarks, treat bags, boxes,clothes pins, and lollipop covers. I still have a few more things to make. I got another SU! order delivered today- yippee!
Here is a photo of one of the bookmark styles I made. I was inspired from the bookmark found on page 64 of the main SU! catalog. I punched the hearts with the FULL HEART punch (#113693). I stayed with the traditional Valentine colors and used mostly scraps- wow, this is a great way to use up some scraps. I'm already thinking of ways to use spring color scraps for Easter. I have a tone of scraps that really need to be used.
I have a workshop this weekend and I marked one of these bookmarks for an attendee to win a small goody bag filled with Valentine themed die cuts, punchies, buttons, eyelets, paper strips, and mini incentive stamps. I also have some other clever ways to win small prizes. I will post them later.
Please stop by this week and next to see some more Valentine projects I have been working on. I will be uploading them in the near future. Have a great Monday.

Italian Sausage Casserole

I just love casseroles in the winter. I found this recipe in a cookbook that has easier/ speedy meals for the working mom. It is a perfect cookbook for me. I have a large cookbook collection and have been very bad with using them lately. They are just sitting on a shelf in my pantry collecting dust. I made a goal for myself (since Novemeber 2009) that I would pick 1-2 new recipes each week. I have done fairly well keeping up with my goal.

I have made baked potatoe soup, seafood lasagna, cranberry/cornbread stuffed pork chops, baked salmon with honey glaze, pita pizzas, chicken salad, white chili, and pasta primavera to name a few. So far all have been a hit with the family. My oldest (15.5 years) is the pickiest and she has liked most of them. . She used to be a better eater than she is now, I wonder if teenage years have anything to do with this. :0 This contemporary casserole is a mixture of Italian and Frech cuisine. The savory custard dipped bread comes from the France and the other ingredients are definately Italian. I tried to get a picture before my family "dug in" but obviously that did not happen. This casserole is perfect by itself or perfect to serve with a mixed green salad with Italian cheeses and a vinegrette.

Meat Mixture:

1.5 lbs of Italian sausage links, casing removed

1 medium zucchini

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1 medium red pepper, diced

1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo sauce. divided

Topping:

1/2 C milk

2 eggs

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 tsp. Italian Seasonings

1/8 tsp. salt

12 slices of firm Italian bread, 1-2 days old

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

2 T fresh parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut sausage into 1/2 inch pieces and cook in frying pan until no longer pink and well browned. Remove sausage from pan and drain.

While meat is browning slice zucchini and mushrooms thinly. Dice red pepper. Add 1 cup Alfredo sauce to the pan and bring to boil. Stir in sausage and vegetables and toss until all is covered with sauce. Pour mixture in 2.5 quart oval or square baking dish mounding in center.

Whisk remaining Alfredo sauce, milk, and eggs. Add garlic, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, and salt.

Cut crusts off the bread and dip into egg mixture, coating lightly; overlap bread in a circular pattern over sausage mixture. If using square pan go around edges, evenly spacing leaving center open.

Drain tomatoes and add remaining Italian seasonings. Spoon tomato mixture over the open center. Grate the cheese ove rthe top of the entire dish (bread and all).

Bake 30-35 minutes or until edges of bread are golden and toasted. Serves 8 people.

MOJO WEEK #122

My husband took my youngest daughter to a sporting practice and my oldest is at a HS basketball game. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet and waiting for American Idol to start. Made Belgian Waffles for dinner- yum! Actually had time to do this week's MOJO Challenge created by a fellow SU! Demonstrator Mary Fish. I enjoyed this layout. Broke out a new SU! cling stamp set TOTE-ALLY TESS (#118595). Very ingenious- SU!!!!!! These clings rock! I absolutely love this idea. Can't wait to show my customers. I think they will love them too. I'm off to finish some matchbox favors for an upcoming workshop I'm hosting. I just love the BIGZ XL dies from Sizzix/ SU! (#114890).

YUM!

Yum! Doesn't this look delicious! It definately caught my attention. Thought I could definately create something with this as my inspiration. Although I wish I had a box of these to eat. hahaha. I came across this challenge at www.palspaperarts.com Come play along. (sorry my blog.google is acting up, I cannot do links at this time).

Here is what I came up with. I used a tomatoe red (non su!) color. I used a heart swirl embossing folder for further texture at the bottom. 1/2 inch chocolate grosgrain ribbon. SU! DS paper strips/ scraps and cupcakes from THE MORE THE MERRIER Hostess Level 3 (#115322) set. I popped 2 of the cupcakes up with STAMPIN' DIMENSIONALS (#104430). Colored images with PURE COLORS (retired) pencils. WORD WINDOW punch (#105090).

ALWAYS & FOREVER

Happy Saturday to all of you. Hope you are all staying warm. We (in Northeast Ohio) have had cold weather (20 degree and below) all week. The girls and I had a rough week trying to get back into the swing of things. I really enjoyed the Holiday vacation. The sound of that early a.m. alarm was not a pleasant one, that is for sure.
I finally got most of the Christmas stuff down and packed away. I am trying to get into the "VALENTINE swing". I am in a stamping/ design "rut". I have colored 20+ images, played with 5+ layouts, and have searched through many papers trying to find VALENTINE items. I did visit a Large Scrapbook retail store this week and found some adorable clear stamps, clearanced papers, and some rub-ons. Now I'm having a hard time creating something.
I did create a card using this week's MOJO120 Challenge. I love this weekly sketch challenge. It is my absolute favorite challenge. No stamping done at all on the card. Sticker chipboard and printed papers are all it contains. I love the vintage and distress feel of the design. Thanks for stopping by. Please come by and visit again.