Tres Leches Cake

Delicious for any occasion

Homemade Watercolors

For homeschoolers, or just fun at home

DIY Toothpaste

Great for good health, and a happy pocketbook

Vegetarian Meals for the Whole Family

Even picky kids will love these meat-less dishes

Sewing Projects and Tips

Even more tutorials to come soon

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Easy Cheesy Corndog Cups






These corndog muffins are tasty and simple, with very few ingredients.

Here are the ingredients and the process:
- Start with your favorite store bought, homemade, or recipe for corn bread/muffins
I make my own mix, found HERE
- Add an extra egg to the batter when mixing
- Mix in a handful or 2 of shredded cheddar or cheddar-jack cheese (1/2 to 1 cup or so)
- Generously grease you muffin pan with non-stick spray
- fill your cups just shy of 2/3 full
- Take about an inch wide slice of Velveeta, or other processed cheese product, and cut into 12 chunks
- Cut 3 or 4 hot dogs into chunks, the amount will vary depending on your preference
The pieces should be about 1 to 1 1/4 inches long, and no more than 3 will fit in each cup
- Place cheese chunks in the middle of each cup
They will be sticking out slightly, but the batter will rise over them as it bakes
- Then plunk the hot dog pieces in around the cheesy centers
- Bake in a 425 degree oven until slightly golden brown on the tops
- Let cool for 5-8 minutes then remove from muffin pan so that they don't stick inside it

Monday, September 20, 2010

Quick Tip: Freezing Meatloaf

I like to have a few things in the freezer for truly hectic days. Meatloaf is one of them. Here is how to freeze a loaf easily:

Begin by placing a large piece of plastic wrap over your loaf pan. The meat will press it down & line the pan as you fill it. Form your loaf.

Fold the extra wrap over the loaf & toss in the freezer for a couple hours to freeze.
 
Pop out of the pan. You now have a firm brick-o-meat that's easier to store & keep shape.
Wrap in additional plastic &/or foil, label & toss back in the freezer =-)


Sunday, September 19, 2010

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do!

Even if we have tiny little toddler hands! =-)
This year we have a Peewee footballer. Which means all sorts of family cheering! Being so far away from major stores though, sometimes things are harder to find- one of them being poms in all sorts of colors. We came up with an idea to make poms out of those cheap $1 tablecloths you can get from the dollar stores. (We got ours from Dollar General.) You can usually find these in almost every color, & they are very thin & easy to cut... & now I have an itch to find other uses for these, because everyone knows they are worthless as tablecloths. We made these small for a little one to hold, but the idea can be manipulated for all sizes.

*Note- There was NO way to get pictures of a this process full-sized, so I made it tiny so I can photograph. So, ignore the rough-cut edges, and the not-to-scale-ness. To-scale would involve math. No thank you!

Begin by cutting your tablecloth in half width-wise.
We used 1/2 of a tablecloth for 1 pompom. Take your first half & cut width-wise into 4 strips.
Now, take one of your strips & fold up length-wise into something easier to cut- then cut into 1/2 inch strips.
Repeat with the 3 other pieces. You'll have a pile of little scraggly strips.
Unroll them, & layer them nicely-ish across a good-sized piece of string.
Gather the string around the stack, & tie tightly. arrange the strips into desired shape as you tighten. (This one's skimpy because I gave up on unrolling all my tiny little strips-lazy...)
We made a good-for-her sized handle by folding over the string & wrapping it in duct tape, then in electrical tape. I'm sure there are lots of other ways to make handles to-size. =-)