Dip Here, Dip There

For Thanksgiving this year
I was charge of bringing the Veggie Tray

which I accompanied with my Grandmother's
fantastic Dill Veggie Dip!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

And since I was doing that,
I decided I'd also make a Fruit Tray (plus pb celery sticks)

with which I decided to serve
an adaptation of many recipes, and created
Apple Pie Dip!

So, here's my new creation:
Apple Pie Dip
(Dip Apples or Graham Crackers in this scrumptious Dip!)

Two 8oz packages Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 bucket of Cool Whip

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

pinch of Kosher salt

prepared caramel sauce

Beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.

Add cool whip and spices, and beat again.

Spread mixture onto a plate,

and drizzle caramel sauce over top.

Refrigerate.

(Before serving, remove from fridge

at least 1/2 hour before,

in order to allow cream cheese to soften a bit.)

As mentioned above, 

you can dip apples or graham crackers in,

and it's FANTASTIC!

Happy Holiday Eating!

Maybe you can serve this at your next Christmas get together =)

Meat and Taters Soup

This soup is modeled after and inspired by the
Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden.

I saw that someone made it into a Facebook  slide
and was passing it around for "likes"
so we made our own kid-friendly
(and picky-hubby friendly)
version last night!

Oh.My.Goodness!!

So good!

ZUPPA TOSCANA

1 package Turkey Kielbasa
5 med. size Russet Potatoes, peeled, chopped to bite size
1 Vidalia Onion, chopped

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

4 c. Chicken Broth
1 c. Fresh Baby Spinach, roughly chopped
1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

2 Tbsp Flour (could use GF flour)

(4 slices crisped bacon, chopped, for garnish)

1. Cut Kielbasa links length wise, then cut slices.
(I think it would be great with pork kielbasa,
but we like the flavor and less fat of the turkey)

2. Brown sausage in a saute pan, then put in crockpot.

3. Saute onions and garlic in sausage drippings until beginning to carmelize.

4. Add onions/garlic, chicken broth, potatoes into slow cooker.

5. If potatoes are still above liquid, add water until all is covered.

6. Cook on HIGH 3-4 hours (or until potatoes are soft).

THEN 30 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING:

7. Pour cream in measuring cup, and mix flour until no longer lumpy.

(I think using a GF flour would work
if you need to serve those that eat gluten free.)

8. Add cream/flour to Crock Pot. Stir.

9. Add spinach. Stir.

(I think you could use frozen spinach if that's what you have on hand.)

10. Cook on HIGH 30 minutes or until slightly thickened.

SERVE with Bacon Pieces on top!

The recipe I used called for cayenne and/or salt & pepper,

but we found that it was unnecessary.

The recipe I used also called for Italian Spicy sausage,

not Kielbasa, but we really liked this flavor combo!

The recipe I used also called for Swiss Chard instead of Spinach
but I know my hubby and kids wouldn't have enjoyed that,
plus as a breast-feedin' mama, I'm not doing cabbages right now.

This was satisfying, easy on the wallet,
and SO delicious!

I recommend it for any cool (or freezing) evening!!

Ecuadorian Shrimp Ceviche

Growing up as a missionary kid in Ecuador
meant that I fell in love with lots of food items
that just can't be found easily
in many regions of the United States.

So now that I live here
I have to either only eat them in my dreams
(not an option)
or try to learn to make some of it myself.

This holiday season
I hit up my brother for his adapted version
of this fantastic Ecuadorian dish,
and this is now MY adapted version of that!
(with more instructions)

My brother, Neil, actually went to a little hut on the beach
and asked the cook if he could watch him prepare it
and took loose notes on what he did....

Ecuadorian Shrimp Ceviche
(inspiration from Bernabe’s in Atacames, Ecuador)

1.5 lbs cooked shrimp (thawed)

   (I use size med- about 36-40 shrimp per pound)

6 limes, juiced

6 lemons, juiced

½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

3 Lg tomatoes, grated with fine edge, discard skins

3 Tbsp yellow mustard

3 Tbsp ketchup

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil

1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1 large red onion, sliced thin

Instructions: 

Detail all shrimp.
In a large bowl, combine lime and lemon juice, salt and sugar.
Toss shrimp in juice. Soak for 30-60 minutes.

In separate bowl,
grate tomatoes (discarding the skins),
add mustard, ketchup, salt, sugar, oil.
Combine. Add cilantro.

In kitchen strainer, place onion slices,
and run under hot tap water for 2 minutes.
Add onions to tomato bowl.

When shrimp has soaked for 30-60 minutes,
use a slotted spoon to put shrimp from juice into tomato bowl.
DO NOT THROW LEMON/LIME JUICE AWAY!
Combine shrimp with tomato mixture.
Add ½ cup lemon/lime juice into tomato bowl.
Mix ½ cup more juice into tomato bowl.
Continue to add 1 Tbsp juice into tomato bowl until it tastes balanced.

Let marinade for AT LEAST 8 hours,
stirring occasionally if desired.
Best if marinates up to 24 hours.

YOU MUST
Give it a taste test:
(OPTIONAL FOR MORE FLAVOR IF NEEDED) 

In a small bowl combine ½ cup lemon/lime juice,
2 Tbsp mustard, 2 Tbsp ketchup, a pinch of salt and sugar.
Then mix the new mixture in with the marinated shrimp mixture.
Sometimes it needs this, and other times it doesn't.
Serve chilled.

Serving ideas: 

Serve as opening course to a seafood or steak meal,
top with slices of ripe avocado,
top with unbuttered popcorn,
serve with fried plantains,
serve with lemon or lime wedge

Fresh Corn Salsa

My mom has this great recipe she calls "Vegetarian Salsa"

that she often even just warms up

and eats as though it's a Tortilla Soup!

I wanted a "fresh" version of this salsa,

especially in summer when the corn on the cob

is just so VERY VERY inviting

and the smell of corn cooking makes me salivate!

So here's my very own version,

a little more veggies and using fresh corn when possible!

Fresh Corn Salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 cobs corn, cooked, cut off cob

   (or 2 cans whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed)

1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped

¼ purple onion, chopped finely

10-15 grape tomatoes, cut in fourths

2 heaping Tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped

3 Tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp sugar

(optional ½ tsp ground jalapeño)

Instructions

Combine beans and chopped veggies.
In separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients.
Pour over veggies and beans.
Stir well.
Cover and chill at least 4 hours, best if overnight.

Serving ideas

serve with chips or quesadillas, 

serve with Mexican spiced Tilapia fillets, 

add chopped avocado or sour cream on top, 

serve as a soup, burrito or taco topping,

endless possible uses!

Banana Muffins

These are Gluten Free,

Dairy Free,

Egg Free

but they are SO DELICIOUS!

I was inspired by a gluten free strawberry muffin 

that I found on pinterest,

but I needed to make it dairy free and egg free,

and I just LOVE banana bread,

especially my mama's great banana bread,

so I thought this combination might be a winner.

And the household seems to agree!

Gluten Free Banana Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In Food Processor:

2  1/2 c. Old Fashioned Oats (not quick oats)

(if you want it GF, you need to be sure your oats are gluten free)

Blend the oats until they become a powdery consistency.

Add:

1 very ripe banana

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c. sugar or splenda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Turn on processor, and slowly add

3/4 c. Almond milk

If you don't want dairy free, you can do 1 c. greek yogurt

Make sure mixture is fully combined,

grease a muffin tin

and divide batter...

Sadly, it only makes 11 muffins! Lol.

Set aside.

In a small bowl combine topping

1/8 c. brown sugar

1/8 c. white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp corn starch

Cut in with a fork

a little less than 1/4 c. cold margarine

(I used a vegetable spread cuz I wanted it dairy free)

Put a heaping 1/2 tsp of topping on each muffin.

The topping sort of "sauteed" the muffin in the pan,

as it melted down around it,

giving the cinnamon and sweet crunch to the whole muffin.

Place in the oven on about the middle rack

and bake for 15 minutes.

Check that a knife comes out cleanly.

The house will smell like cinnamon and banana bread,

and all that goodness!

Enjoy!

(Store in an airtight container.

Also, because they are gluten free

they do not last very long,

so you have a great excuse to eat up!)

A Half Birthday Party

Do you realize

that Taylor now turning two and a half

makes her THIRTY months old?!?

We decided to throw her a slumber party

with her 2nd cousins

and the theme was GLOW IN THE DARK!

We had a blast.

Here's a little tour through pictures

I got over half of these ideas through Pinterest.

So fun!

The dollar store had SLIME to play with!
It looks glow-in-the-dark doesn't it?

One of the ideas I saw on Pinterest

from this site here

was to play "keep-it-up" in the dark

with glow sticks inserted into balloons.

That same site also gave us the idea to do bathtime

and use glowsticks in the water!

So I got them big glow stick necklaces,

a big glow in the dark wand,

and several mini glow sticks to toss around in the water.

Kathy has a big "hot tub" spa in her bathroom

so we let the girls put bathing suits on and...

a few squirts of bubble bath + air jets = LOTS of bubbles!

So much fun!

We also did a photo shoot with glow sticks

(an idea from this site here)

and jars I had painted with glow in the dark paint.

Only trouble was that you had to keep COMPLETELY still

while the shutter of the camera was open...

something the older girls did quite well

but Tay struggled to do =)

I still love her lil' photo though!

I also took glow in the dark puff paint
and stained-glass paint
and made a plate for each girl to take home.
This is Addie's plate!
They won't last forever, I'm sure,
but while they do last they'll be fun to use now and then.

This idea came from a post in a foreign language
on a blog that no longer exists, so I can't give you a link for it...
but I adapted it, so we'll just call it "Hot Dots".
I cut each hotdog into four even pieces.
I took Bucatoni pasta (like spaghetti but hollow in the middle)
and pushed three pasta pieces into each piece of hotdog,
sliding the hotdog down to the middle of the pasta.
I cooked them in a LARGE pot of boiling water
(as the noodles were so stiff they needed to fit almost straight up and down in the pot)
and followed the pasta packaging directions for doneness.
Then I opened a box of Kraft Mac'n'Cheese
and took out the cheese packet, emptying it into a microwavable dish,
adding 1/3 c. milk, and 2 Tbsp melted butter.
I cooked that for 30 sec on medium.
(I saved the Macaroni noodles to use another day.)
When the Bucatoni/Hotdogs were done I drained the water
and used a soft spatula to stir in the cheese sauce.

The girls loved it

and were "Mmming" and commenting the whole meal!

There weren't any left!

And then I made finger jello
and put the green and yellow gummi bears into it
to represent "glow in the dark" for the meal!
Quite a treat!!

Then we had "pudding" cheesecakes instead of cake
because we had just celebrated two other family birthdays
and had eaten plenty of cake!
I took Oreo cookies, "twisted" them apart, and used the side withOUT cream,
and then put that cookie in a cupcake paper as the crust.

Then I mixed together an instant pudding "Cheesecake" flavor,
and put it over top the "crust" and topped it with crumbled Oreo with Cream cookies,
and put four together to make a "cake" I could put candles in.

Taylor was STOKED to sing Happy Birthday
and she even pointed to herself and sang " Happy Birthday to me..."

and she sang "...dear Tay-Yore..."

and she LOVED getting to blow the candles out too!

After dessert we headed downstairs

and munched on "snack necklaces" made of neon colored fruit loops and apple jacks

strung on curling ribbon and made into necklaces

and listened while Auntie Anna did story time

and read a few books about the new Disney Pixar movie "Brave"

which will be coming out soon!

She even found one book that GLOWED IN THE DARK!

And then we set up the beds

on the downstairs living room floor.

Believe it or not,

Taylor actually stayed in her "bed" until 4am!

(She awoke crying and joined us in our bed for a few hours.)

Then all but Tay slept in well after 9am!

We had to turn lights on, play music, and then start talking to them

in order to get them to wake.

Then we had breakfast popsicles
while Daddy made waffles and bacon.
I was inspired to make the breakfast popsicles
by a Pinterest at this site
so I made two variations!
First, in Taylor's hand you can see a Blueberry-Vanilla Popsicle.
I used vanilla flavored greek yogurt, and then I made a blueberry mixture.
For four pops I microwaved about 1/2 c. of blueberries,
about 1 Tbsp grapejuice,
1 Tbsp Splenda
and a drip of almond extract.
I alternated yogurt and blueberry mixture in the popsicle mold, then froze!

Second, in Grace's hand you can see a Lemon Popsicle.
I used lemon flavored green yogurt, and made a lemon "goo".
For four pops I juiced about 1/2 c. of lemon juice
2 Tbsp Splenda & 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
and microwaved for 30 seconds on med (power 5).
I added 3 drops yellow and 1 drop green food coloring.
Then I whisked in 2 Tbsp cornstarch
and microwaved for another 30 seconds on med (power 5).
(as an aside- I tried these again and used all Splenda 
and no powdered sugar- and the texture was really weird
so don't substitute the powdered sugar...)
I alternated yogurt and lemon goo in the popsicle mold,
making sure the lemon goo was not very thick each time,
then froze and we enjoyed
bedhead and all!

                         

Before it was time to go home

we made HOMEMADE LAVA LAMPS

which I learned to do from this site here

and it worked SO well!

We poured oil into a clear glass bottle until 3/4 full

(we had leftover IBC cream soda bottles)

and then we put water in until there was TWO inches of free space at the top.

Then I let Taylor choose her color for her water, 

and put 4 drops of foodcoloring into the bottle.

So, below you can see the blue food color, 

and then watch as it slowly dyes the water!

Once the water is dyed,

drop about 1/3 of an Alkaseltzer tablet into the bottle

and watch the "lava lamp" begins to fizzle

and then creates the bubbles!

When the bubbles subside, add the next piece of Alkaselter tablet!

Seriously... HOURS of fun!

It was a fantastic time had by all.
Taylor had so much fun
and felt very special with her friends!
Thanks, girls, for coming!

The happiest 2 and a half year old I know!!

At her lastest WIC appointment we weighed and measured Taylor.
She was 31lbs 12 oz and 37 inches tall.
That puts her in the 66th Percentile!

Bridal Shower for a Friend

My Mother in Law hosted a bridal shower for a good friend

and I got to help with the decorations!

It was extra fun to put together the tablescape

because after all the construction on the living room

there is still a variety of knick-knacks that don't yet have a home

so I knew where everything was packed up

and I just went "shopping" for anything yellow or gray!

I made the little banner out of dollar store plastic table cloths

and puff paint for designs on each triangle

and glued them to silver ribbon.

And we bought this great yellow frame at a local shop

and put a black&white of the happy couple in it.

The bride got to take it home after the party!

I got this great idea from Pinterest

and adapted it to the bride's favorite candy

and the yellow & gray theme!

I bought round pretzels,

put them in mini cupcake papers,

and put one Rolo on the center of the pretzel.

I put six on a microwave-safe plate

and cooked it for 25 sec on Power 5 (med).

Then I would press the Rolo down to get it intertwined with the pretzel.

Then I put another Rolo on top of that,

and cooked them again for 25 sec on Power 5 (med).

Then pressed a Sixlet candy (you could use an M&M)

into the center of the top Rolo,

"squishing" the bottom one until it oozed out a little further than the top candy.

Cooled completely, and stored in an airtight container until the party!

Salty, sweet, caramely, just GREAT!

We put out recipe cards and wrote

"Recipes for a Successful Marriage"

and had guests fill out their advice.

We made fancy lemonade

(see recipe below)

and also served fancy water

in these cute Mason Jars.

Drinks Table

Gifts Table

(in the frame on the right

you can see a copy of her wedding invitation

which we used as the inspiration

for the whole shower!)

Party favors for each guest

included a mini flower pot with decorations

and the initials of the Bride and Groom. 

Snacks included "Avocado Salsa Boats" in Romaine lettuce leaves,

Home-made Chocolate Dipped Strawberries,

Cucumber Feta Crostinis

(recipe adapted from a friend's blog

which she adapted from Joanne Weir's From Tapas to Meze)

some wonderful individual Cherry Cheesecakes made by the bride's sister,

Parmesan Cheese Tuiles

Mixed Nuts with Rolos and Sixlets

Drinks were inspired by a Pinterest Pin or two as well.

We had extra fresh tasting water

with Lemon and Cucumber floating in it.

(bonus: added a lil' yellow) 

We also had a fantastic, refreshing, creation

we like to call Mint Grapefruit Lemonade!

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cans Frozen Lemonade

100% Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice

Cold Water

2 Pink Grapefruits

2 Ripe Lemons

1/4 c. Splenda (could use other sweetener)

Fresh Mint

Directions:

In a large soup pot whisk the cans of frozen lemonade

with 8 cans-worth of cold water.

Fill the can twice with grapefruit juice and add to the lemonade.

Take three of the mint leaves and mince finely.

Whisk together.

Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Meanwhile thinly slice halves of grapefruit and freeze in a tupperware,

separating layers with wax paper.

Do the same with lemons.

When ready to serve, put whole mint leaves, 

frozen citrus and lemonade in punchbowl.

Here you can see all the decorations together.

Congratulations to the Bride and Groom!

They get married this weekend!!

I can't wait to see pictures!

Oatmeal Art

I recently joined the Pinterest community

and have been enjoying all the inspiring ideas

of STUFF to do with Taylor Lee!

I will try to post at least a lil' pic of a few of them

especially those that are great successes.

But this is not that kind of post!

This is a post where I'm posting MY idea

and then I'll pin it and let others see it!

Yippee!

Taylor loved this activity.

In fact, she sort of "inspired" it herself

by saying she wanted to play with glue...

and all we had in the pantry that would be easy to glue

was a boxful of Instant Oatmeal - Natural Flavor

(so I adapted a long-adored craft of salt coloring to oatmeal!)

Materials:

craft glue (Elmer's would also work)

Oatmeal

chalk

dixie cups

paper plate

spoon (not pictured)

Step-by-Step:

Pour about 1/4 of a packet onto a paper plate

Using one color of chalk,

jam the chalk down onto the oatmeal,

slightly grinding the big flakes

and leaving behind lots of chalk dust

Pour the lightly colored oats into one dixie cup.

Repeat with different colors

Taylor chose green, pink and blue.

For a toddler activity

the adult can draw an item using the glue

(be careful not to do "too much"

as if it dries even just a little

the oats won't stick to it)

Then put spoonfuls of one color onto the wet glue.

Then the adult can fold the paper a little,

letting the colored oats

roll around a little over the sides of the glue.

Then I poured the oats of that color back into the dixie cup

and let Taylor choose the next color.

Sometimes Taylor found it more fun to put the spoon down

and then pour it from the cup onto the remaining glue.

When the flower was done

she asked for a piggy.

We repeated the process

She was VERY proud of her piggy!

When we had completed the other two glue activities

Taylor asked if she could add oats

to a watercolor painting she did yesterday.

It was still sitting on the porch where it had dried,

so she got excited to put oats on the lion's "hair"...

The texture looked VERY cool and added a lot to her painting!

And clean-up?

A total breeze!

No wonder my folks had a dust-buster when I was a kid!

Taylor always looks forward to cleaning time

because she gets to use this!