Live Acts of Pinterest: Mistletoes

Another holiday gift to share with you!  We usually give money to Ed's sisters for Christmas, but I wanted to make it a little more fun this year.

You may have found a printable floating around Pinterest for this one.  I wanted to do things the hard way, though, and rubber stamped each individual letter!  Actually, I just have a TON of these neat manilla tags and thought they'd be perfect to use for this project.

 A closer look.  Admittedly not perfect. I was going for that 'rustic' look.  It's the thought that counts, right girls?

 

I embellished each tag with a couple of rows of red star stitching on my sewing machine(my very favorite stitch!), and added a little pouch made of wrapping paper on the back to hold their money.  This would make a really cute gift for a Secret Santa exchange!  You might want to pin it for next year :) 

Live Acts of Pinterest: Crock Pot Cinnamon Almonds

I LOVE those cinnamon-sugar coated almonds that you often see at malls and festivals.  Whenever I see them, I try to limit myself to the snack sized portion, because I could probably eat a ton of them if I'm not careful. And, oh, the smell.  The smell!  So delicious.  I kept seeing pins for an at home version on Pinterest and knew I had to test it out.  

I perused several versions, all of them pretty similar.  I went with this one.  I had everything but the almonds on hand.  Tip: nuts are usually less expensive during this time of year due to all of the baking people do, and can be kept in the freezer for a good long time. Stock up!

Mixing up the magic. I could probably eat the sugar/brown sugar/cinnamon mixture with a spoon.  I am a giant sugar addict.  Actually, it would be delish on top of oatmeal or buttered toast.

Into the crock pot they go!  Now, keep in mind that although this is a slow cooker recipe, it is definitely not a hands-off type of recipe.  You need to stir these every 20 minutes for 3 to 4 hours in order to turn them from this:

To this:

This was after the water was added.  It kind of dissolves the sugar mixture a little bit and turns it into a scrumptious candy coating.

It's important to spread these really well out as they cool.  I thought I could fit them all onto one sheet pan but ended up using 2.  Some of them sort of stuck together, so I just gently tapped them with a rubber spatula to break them apart.

A close up.  So, these didn't turn out *exactly* like the cinnamon almonds from the mall. The coating is a little more crumbly and not as hard and crunchy. Maybe if I cooked them for the full 4 hours instead of 3 it would have been different?  That being said, these are quite delicious.  I bagged up half of them to give to our neighbors in a holiday treat package, and greedily kept the rest for myself.  I've been snacking on them all week, and even snuck a little bag into the theatre with me when we went to see The Hobbit.  I also plan on crushing a few of them up to try as a salad topping.  I think these will definitely be made again in the near future.    

Live Acts of Pinterest: Inside-Out Carrot Cake Muffins

Yesterday was a big day for cooking and baking around here.  I made FOUR recipes (two I'd made previously, two that were new to me) that I found on Pinterest.  The one I'm going to share today is for Inside-Out Carrot Cake Muffins.

I decided to cut this recipe in half since we are a household of 2 and don't need a dozen yummy treats hanging around.  Want?  Sure.  Need...probably not.

The batter.  This recipe was simple to whip up.  I didn't even need to haul out the mixer!  Even better, all of the ingredients where items that I normally keep on hand.  There were a couple of optional ingredients (Fiori di Sicilia and coarse white sparkling sugar) that I didn't use.

Fresh from the oven!  I ended up with 7 muffins and had some filling leftover as well.  I popped it into the fridge.  It'll probably be delicious on graham crackers or gingersnaps! As you can see, the filling sort of oozed out of the top of the muffins for me.  I don't think my tins were as deep as the ones the recipe creator used.

Ready to sample. 

 I couldn't resist cutting one open to see what the inside was like.  It looks like I might have put a little too much batter on the bottom, causing the filling to ooze out the top.  Something to remember for next time.

And there will definitely be a next time.  These are really yummy.  Not as super duper sweet as carrot cake.  I like that I can make a small amount and that they don't have to be frosted like cupcakes.  Ed hasn't gotten the chance to try one.  He'd better hurry, otherwise I might eat all of them myself... 

Live Acts of Pinterest: Cleaning Calendar

When I write about something I've tried on Pinterest, it's usually a new recipe.  What can I say, I love to eat.  Out of all of my boards, 'Food' has the most pins.  But!  I'm going to shake things up this time around and share something from my 'Bright Ideas' board.

I don't really love to clean, but I don't like messiness either.  Mess = stress.  Stress over mess = Anna freaking out and running around trying to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS.  I'd thought about trying to implement some sort of system so that dirt wouldn't build up and get out of control, but hadn't found anything that really worked for me.  Then, Pinterest happened, and a ton of great ideas fell right into my lap! 

 (taken from this blog post.  I can't seem to find an author to credit?)

This is the chart I chose to try. It's really worked wonders.  I have a couple of things I do every day, along with a special chore of the day.  Am I perfect?  No.  Has this little chart helped me freak out less about messes?  Totally.  As I've mentioned before, we are moving in a couple of months, and I think using this system will help reduce the amount of cleaning we'll have to do when we leave our current apartment.  Do you have a cleaning system that you like to use?

Live Acts of Pinterest: Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

Well, sort of. I didn't make the entire salad as written, just the dressing.  I love making my own salad dressings.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and had to try it!

This salad works with pretty much anything you have on hand.  I made mine with romaine lettuce, corn and black beans (another impromptu cold salad I threw together.  Just a can of corn, one of rinsed black beans, some lime juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper), leftover roast chicken, and a little cheese.  You could add peppers, tomatoes, tortilla strips, avocado, whatevs.  You could probably even use the dressing as a dip for veggies.  The chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce gives it a nice, slightly smoky flavor with just enough spice to be interesting.

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad Dressing (from Nutmeg Notebook)

1/3c chopped cilantro
2/3c sour cream (light if you like)
1T minced chipotle chile, canned in Adobo sauce
1t ground cumin
1t chili powder
4t fresh lime juice
1/4t salt 

Mix ingredients well.  Tastes best if it's left in the fridge overnight.
 

Live Acts of Pinterest: Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

 I am always a big fan of slow cookers, but they can be especially handy when you're feeling under the weather(as I have for the last few days).  After all, sick folk need to eat too.  Just toss a few ingredients in in the morning, do sick person things for 8 hours (some suggestions: shuffle around the house in your bathrobe, sneeze up a storm, watch DVR'd episodes of Doug, or fall asleep on the couch with the dog), and dinner is done. 


I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and by some magical coincidence, happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.  I don't even know how 2 cans of golden mushroom soup made their way into my pantry.  It's not something I normally buy.  My mom must have sneaked them in.  I only had 1.25 lbs of stew beef, so I added 8oz of fresh mushrooms.  I like my stroganoff with mushrooms anyway.  The most strenuous thing I had to do was dice an onion.

Voila.  Dinner.  I added a side of roasted carrots, a standby veggie side for me.   Just cut up some carrots, toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, spread them on a baking sheet, and stick them in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  This recipe made quite a lot, so I am hoping that it will freeze beautifully (name that movie!).

A few more of my slow cooker favorites:

Slow Cooker Marinara (freezes beautifully!)

(not) Refried Beans (also freezes beautifully!)

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Cream Cheese Chicken