Chatting with Charity 15

Hi everyone!  Today I am excited to share one of my family's favorite weeknight dinners.  It is super fast and let's be honest most weeknights we need FAST!

Ingredients
 1   cup asparagus chopped
 1   pound pasta 
 1/4   cup extra-virgin olive oil 
 4    cloves garlic, minced 
 1/2   cup left over pasta cooking water 
 1/2   teaspoon red pepper flakes 
 1 1/4   teaspoons salt 
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions
1.Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain.
2.Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and asparagus and heat through, stirring so it doesn't burn.
3.Add the pasta water, red pepper, salt, and bring to a boil. Toss with the cooked pasta.
Serve with a salad and some yummy bread and you have a wonderful and easy weeknight dinner
4.Sprinkle top with cheese

Serve with salad and some yummy bread and you have an easy, fast weeknight dinner!

19 Days of Homemade Gifts ~ Day 19 ~ White Chocolate Popcorn

Are you ready to make a crazy easy and super yummy treat for your family and friends,,,,,and maybe a neighbor or two?

Todays gift is just that.

You will need:

popcorn

vegetable oil

butter

12 oz bag of white chocolate chip

M&M’s

clear bags

ribbon

Pour in enough popcorn to cover the bottom of your pan.

Then cover the corn with vegetable oil.

Turn your eye onto high and if you have a popcorn pot swirl it under all of the popcorn is done.  If you do not have a popcorn pot you can gently shake the pot under the popcorn is done.

Pour popcorn out of pot and into two large bowl

Melt your bag of white chocolate chips in the microwave

*tip* add 1/2 a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the chocolate to get a smoother melt.

Once melted, my microwave took about 1 minute, pour over the popcorn in the bowls and stir until well blended.

Spread out over wax paper and sprinkle in M&M’s.

Allow to cool completely.

Then bag it up and pass it out.

Charity

Day 1 ~ Salt Dough Ornaments
Day 2 ~ Silent Night, Holy Night Pillow
Day 3 ~ Sentimental Penny Keychain
Day 4 ~ Cookie Sheet Chalkboard
Day 5 ~ Duct Tape Composition Notebook
Day 6 ~ Bible Bookmark
Day 7 ~ Bible Notebook
Day 8 ~ Embellished Mittens
Day 9 ~ Bike Wheel Memo Board
Day 10 ~ Recipe Art
Day 11 ~ Chalkboard Coasters
Day 12 ~ Peppermint Bark
Day 13 ~ Pennant Banner Clipboard
Day 14 ~ Christmas Art
Day 15 ~ Snow Globes
Day 16 ~ Bible Verse Scarf
Day 17 ~ Jones Soda Label
Day 18 ~ Silhouettes

Spicy Sweet Potato Stew

Today, I am sharing a recipe I tried for the first time this week and we loved it.

I have been reluctant to share many recipes here because I tend to cook in large batches and stock my freezer with it. 

I have decided I can’t be the only person who cooks this way so I am just going to start sharing.

I love to cook this way because it allows me to cook several meals at one time and also saves money ( this comes in at around $5 per meal, that’s $1.25 per serving).  If I am going to have the kitchen a mess I might as well make more than one meal and if I am buying the ingredients to make it once there will normally be some leftovers but cooking in large batches allows me to go ahead and use up all the ingredients purchased.

This batch cooking recipe made four meals for my family of four.

Ingredients List:

4 Large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 in cubes

1 Rotisserie chicken, make your own or purchase one

olive oil

1 jalapeño (seeds removed)

8 Cloves of garlic

4 t. Cumin

4t. Chili powder

4 t. Oregano

2 Cans black beans (or better yet, make your own)

2 Cans corn (I use corn from the garden)

1 (16oz) jar of salsa verde

chicken broth

8 cups brown rice cooked

corn chips crumbled

lime

sour cream

1. Sauté jalapeño and garlic in the olive oil for 3 minutes and then add sweet potatoes, cumin, chili powder, and oregano and continue to sauté until potatoes are tender.

2.  Remove chicken meat from the whole chicken and chop in bite size pieces.

3.  Put the leftover chicken bones, skin and etc… into a pot and fill will water.  Bring to a boil and allow to cook for 30 minutes, this is to make chicken broth.

4. Put sweet potato mixture, chopped chicken, cooked rice, beans, corn, and jar of salsa into a 7 quart crock pot

5. Add enough chicken broth to fill crock pot, use store bought or make your own like I did.  Pour chicken broth through a strainer into a bowl.  Pour the chicken broth into the crock pot.  Pour hot water over the chicken in the strainer and into the bowl and you will get more broth, pour into the crock pot.  At this point your crock pot should be full to the top.  If not add more water.

6. Cook in the crock pot for 4 hours.

7.  Separate into 4 equal parts, cool three of them and put them in the freezer, serve the fourth.

8. Add corn chips crumbles, sour cream and a squeeze of fresh lime to each serving.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

I would love to hear if you batch cook?

Charity

19 Days of Homemade Gifts ~ Day 12~ Peppermint Bark

 

Today’s gift is not only a great gift but it is very YUMMY.  You will want to make extra for your family!

Here is what you will need:

Pan lined with foil

1 pound semi sweet chocolate

1 pound white chocolate

1 bag peppermint candy

double boiler or pot and glass bowl

cute dish

Line your pan with foil.

Grab a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pour Chocolate into your  double boiler or glass bowl over boiling water in a pot.

melt and stir

melt and stir

when the chocolate is completely melted pour onto foil lined pan smooth out and place in freezer

unwrap peppermint candies and place in zip top bag

then have some fun crushing them

this part is a frustration reducer

Ahhh, I feel better already

Grab your white chocolate,

put it into your double broiler

stir and melt

stir and melt.

But here is the HARD part

WAIT

YOU MUST WAIT!!!

See if you pour the melted white chocolate onto the frozen dark chocolate then you will have a big mess, because the white chocolate will melt the dark chocolate and they will mix together and lets just say it is not pretty

So find your patience and wait at least 10 minutes.

Once the white chocolate is cool to the touch pour it onto the dark chocolate and smooth,

immediately add the crushed peppermint candies.

Stick it back into the freezer for 30 minutes

remove from the freeze

remove from the pan and cut into pieces

Place into cute dish and there you have it Yummy peppermint bark.



 

Charity

Day 1 ~ Salt Dough Ornaments
Day 2 ~ Silent Night, Holy Night Pillow
Day 3 ~ Sentimental Penny Keychain
Day 4 ~ Cookie Sheet Chalkboard
Day 5 ~ Duct Tape Composition Notebook
Day 6 ~ Bible Bookmark
Day 7 ~ Bible Notebook
Day 8 ~ Embellished Mittens
Day 9 ~ Bike Wheel Memo Board
Day 10 ~ Recipe Art
Day 11 ~ Chalkboard Coasters

19 Days of Homemade Gifts ~ Day 10 ~ Recipe Art

 

 

Today’s gift is perfect for the sentimental person in your life.  Plus, it is crazy simple.

You Will Need:

recipe, written by a family member or yourself

frame

scrapbook paper

spray adhesive

Cut scrapbook paper to fit the frame, spray adhesives to the back of the paper, and stick to the cardboard back of the frame.  Then, spray adhesive the back of the recipe car and attach it to the scrapbook paper.  Finally, put it all back together and you are finish!

I love how each of the recipe cards are different.

 

Charity

 

Day 1 ~ Salt Dough Ornaments
Day 2 ~ Silent Night, Holy Night Pillow
Day 3 ~ Sentimental Penny Keychain
Day 4 ~ Cookie Sheet Chalkboard
Day 5 ~ Duct Tape Composition Notebook
Day 6 ~ Bible Bookmark
Day 7 ~ Bible Notebook
Day 8 ~ Embellished Mittens
Day 9 ~ Bike Wheel Memo Board

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Key Lime Pie

 Ice Cream

Ingredients:

10 ounces Key Lime Juice

1/3 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

3 Egg Yolks

Whole Milk

1 & 1/2  quart ice cream maker

1. Squeeze limes to get juice

2. Mix lime juice and all other ingredients EXCEPT milk

3.  Pour into electric ice cream maker

4.  Fill to top with whole milk

5.  Run until frozen, mine takes about 25-30 minutes

Graham Cracker Crust Topping

1 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

1.  Mix well

2.  Spread out onto cookie sheet

3.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes

4.  Cool and crumble

Eat and Enjoy

Charity

Salt Dough Ornaments and Gift Tags

I am so excited to share a great Christmas craft project today.  Salt dough ornaments and gift tags.  For pennies you can make a great gift for your family and friends.  I am using the ones my girls and I made as gift tags that the recipients can later use as an ornament.

All you need to get started is

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 water

1,2,3 easy peasy!!!

Toss it all in the mixer for a few minutes.

Once it is all combined

Kneed until smooth

I separated mine, so each girl could have one.

Roll the dough ball out on wax paper

Now for the fun part….

Grab a doily and press it into the dough with the rolling pin.

When you lift the doily off you will be left with a beautiful pattern.

Next grab a cookie cutter and cut out your ornaments.

Remove the dough from around your ornament shapes, lift and

place on a cookie sheet and poke a hole with a straw.

Cook at 200 degrees for 5-6 hours.

Take them out and let them cool.

Paint them white, start with the back.  After the back is dry, paint the front.

After the paint is dry apply glue to the front.

While the glue is still wet sprinkle with glitter.

Lightly wipe off the top, so that the glitter only sticks in the grooves.

After the glitter and glue has dried seal with a spray sealer.

Write on the back who the gift is to and from and run a ribbon through the hole.

Hang from your gift.

And give to your friends and family.

A simple gift that will become sentimental in the years to come.

Cha Cha