Quick Crafts

My island was initially supposed to be 2 Ikea kitchen counters but the guy I got it from off of Craigslist put a large butcher block top on it.  This left the back of the cabinets exposed with raw edges.  I wanted to cover it with something pretty.  I chose some fabric that had the colors I wanted to incorporate in my kitchen.  I found this lovely fabric :)

So here is the before picture:

And here's the after picture:

I hemmed the edges and sewed velcro at 10 inch intervals on the back of the fabric.  Then I stapled the other velcro side to the back of the island.  I think it makes a huge difference :)  The hubby thinks it looks like something out of the 70s but I love it :)

I had some small pieces left over that I wanted to use.  I had some small canvas covered frames I got from Big Lots for $2.  They had some bland picture on them so I covered them with some left over fabric and ended up with some wall decor :)

Overall, I'm really happy with how everything turned out :)

Happy crafting everyone :)

Yarn Wreath

It's never too early to start crafting for the holidays :)  I made this pretty yarn wreath in a few hours.  

All you need is a styrofoam ring, yarn and pompoms/felt for embellishment.  Wrap the yarn around the ring  - I went around 3 times.  Then glue on the pompoms and felt embellishments.  You can also make little felt rosettes too :)

Happy crafting :)

Taking care of butcher block

Quality products are hard to find and when you do find them you have to pay a pretty penny for them.  When I was looking for an island for my kitchen, I knew I wanted something sturdy and with a relatively large surface area AND I didn't want to pay a lot for it.  I looked online and saw lots of islands - nice granite islands - but they didn't really have the area that I wanted and they wouldn't have fit the look of my kitchen.  Then I found a 45" x 60" Ikea butcher block island that a guy was selling on Craigslist for $45!!! At the time we didn't even have the house yet but I knew I needed it.  However, I didn't really have any idea of how big it really was or how it would fit into the kitchen. When I was actually putting it together, I realized that it was actually 2 Ikea kitchen cabinet pieces with butcher block sides and a top.

Needless to say, I have no idea how I'd function without it now.  I'd never owned real butcher block before so I did some research on how to take care of it.  You should season your butcher block at least once a month with a light coating of warmed mineral oil.  Since I didn't have any mineral oil on hand, I found that you can substitute grapeseed oil since it doesn't go rancid.  If your butcher block is new, do one coat and let it dry.  Then, repeat 5-6 times letting the coats dry each time.

On the left is the treated area and on the right is untreated.  See what a little oil can do :)

Upcoming craft

Hopefully this weekend I'll be attempting to make fabric covered roller blinds for my craft room.  Check them out.  They look super easy and let you add a more personal touch to a room than regular blinds.  I just need to get to Home Depot to pick up another roller blind since I'm a moron and forgot an extra window.... but I do have some lovely busy fabric to use for this project.

Here's what the craft room looked like before we moved in:

 


Check back later to see if it was a win or a flop :)

Welcome back :)

Hi everyone!
Sooooo much has happened in the last few months - im just starting to catch my breath!  We bought a house on July 1st, got the keys and started cleaning/priming/painting/moving on July 24th and got married on July 28th!  We survived an earthquake, a hurricane and (after the hurricane put 2 inches of water in our basement) a few more days of monsoon-like rains.... It has been a LONG few weeks but we are ok :)

Yesterday, we finished cleaning out the apartment and finally turned in the keys :)  The new house has furniture and too much junk in it already!  I finally have a big kitchen with an island and an official craft room!! And we also have a little gym in the basement with a recumbent bike, treadmill, bench press / squat area and free weights.  Time for me to get into shape :)

I decided to change my blog around a bit.  I'm hoping to focus more on cooking AND crafting.  Also check out my Zibbet store full of handmade little bits of awesomeness :)  (click the pic on the right of this post anytime) I hope everyone will enjoy the transition :)

Thanks for coming over!!

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been MIA.  Picked up lots of new responsibilities at work but now I get to work from home!!! I'm super happy about that since the gas prices keep going up.

Oh also - I'm engaged now!!

YAY!  He was sooo cute when he proposed - he used the cat as a conspirator :)
Sooooo we are hoping for a July wedding - nothing fancy - and then buying a house when our lease is up in September.  I'm soooo ready for a house and a real kitchen.  In anticipation of getting hitched we are stepping up our efforts to get healthy.  So I should be putting up many more recipes soon.

Also, I've always wanted to open up my own little online shop with handmade items :) So I did!

Check out my Zibbet store, I only have a few items up but they sure are cute :)  I'm working on getting some more things up there but please do take a look and buy something if you like it :)  And don't hesitate to contact me with questions or custom requests :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Winner Winner - Chicken Dinner!

Looks like KCR wins the Bisquick Prize pack.

KCR - please email me (terrorinthekitchen (at) gmail (dot) com) before Monday with your info :)

Thanks everyone!

I'm Back!! PLUS a Giveaway!

We'll I'm a terrible blogger.... I don't know why I even bother... :( Sorry I've neglected you guys.

I managed to pass my classes and put in tons of (mandatory) overtime at work and still managed to keep my sanity. I'm happy to have a stable job and be able to go to school but sometimes it just gets to be a bit much.

I have a few recipes to post with lots of pics :) so hopefully people are actually still going to read this.

To make up for the lack of posts - I have a great giveaway for you!

Up for grabs is a Bisquick Gluten Free Pancake Mix set :)
It comes with a cast iron mini pancake pan, spatula, the Bisquick Gluten Free Pancake mix and a pancake batter pen.

I was tickled pink with the batter pen. You can put all the ingredients in the pen and shake it up. It was super easy to fill, shake and "write" with the batter. And best of all, you can just throw it in the dishwasher.

I've never cooked with cast iron but I followed the seasoning instructions and it turned out pretty good. The pancakes themselves were very light and the batter pen was really fun to use. I think I'm going to use it to fill mini muffin pans.

Also for whoever is still reading, you can visit http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/8b49/ to download a printable coupon for $1 off Bisquick Gluten Free baking mix!

To find great recipe tips and ideas, visit www.bisquick.com/glutenfree. There, you’ll find countless gluten-free recipes for family favorites such as Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcakes and Gluten Free Pizza Crust, using Bisquick Gluten Free baking mix. Check back often! They’re adding more recipes every day! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post :) Let me know what your favorite type of pancake is or what add-ons you like (chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas, whipped cream). I'll choose a winner on Saturday night. I'll need the winners info by Monday 1/10 otherwise another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!


Disclosure - MyBlogSpark provided me with the same prize pack that is being given away for free.  All opinions are my own.

Deb's Dill Dip

My BF's mom makes this great dill dip for family get-togethers. She kindly shared the recipe with me so I could make it for her son whenever he wants it. Here it is right from her recipe card... my changes are in red :)

Deb's Dill Dip

2/3 cup mayo - I used Kraft Olive Oil Mayo

2.3 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp dill weed

1 Tbsp parsley flakes

1 Tbsp minced onion flakes - I used a light sprinkle of onion powder to taste

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight. Serve with rye and or pumpernickel breads.

Deb's additional variations:

Use an 8oz (1 cup) container of sour cream then use the empty sour cream container to measure an equal amount (1 cup) of mayo. Since this is 50% more mayo and sour cream, increase the other herbs and onions to 1 1/2 Tbsps and increase the salt to 3/4 tsp.

I made this and let it sit over night in the fridge. The BF loved it the next day, even with my changes :)

Enjoy!

Stuff to try out....

Here's some stuff I want to try soon. I hope school isn't going to tie me up as much as it did the last few months....

Homemade Gummi Candy

Peanut Butter and Jam Bars

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Travel Bars

Single Serving Pie in a Jar

Pineapple Coconut Muffins

Whole Wheat Tortillas

If you try any of these, let me know how they turn out :)

Crayon Roll

When my BFF's son was about to be a big brother, I decided to make him a cute crayon roll to keep him busy at the hospital :) I think it turned out sooo adorable :)

What do you think?

My First Hat

I made my first hat a little while ago :)

What do you think?

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I have a get together to go to tomorrow so I decided to make cupcakes since everyone likes cupcakes. However, since I have a 20 page paper that is due Sunday, I decided to take the easy way out and just use box mix and canned frosting (GASP). I know its blasphemy but - hey - I'm busy.

Well of course I had to find some way to make it time consuming so I decided to get some cake decorating tips and make them pretty looking. But since I'm scatterbrained, I forgot that using fancy cake decorating tips to frost cupcakes would require a lot of frosting. I OBVIOUSLY didn't get enough to cover 48 cupcakes. So instead of running out at 10:30pm to try to find frosting I made my own - YAY ME!

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened

4-5 tbsp cocoa powder

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp vanilla extract

3-5 tbsp water (can use cream or milk as well)

Cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often. Add cocoa powder, making sure it blends well. Frosting will look a bit dry. Now add the vanilla and the water. You can add more depending on how stiff you want the frosting to be.

Cheers!

Pepperoni Rolls

I totally copied this recipe from Suzanne. It's delicious and can be grabbed as a snack or you can pack 2 for a lunch. I only made minimal changes. Check out her website - it's awesome and she has step-by-step pics of this yumminess.

Pepperoni Rolls

Dough

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

1 cup chopped pepperoni

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

4 cups flour (approx)

Filling

pepperoni slices or sticks

mozzarella or pepper jack cheese (approx. 2 cups)

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, salt, sugar, minced garlic, egg, oil, chopped pepperoni, and the 1/2 cup of cheese. Let sit five minutes. Stir in the first cup and a half of flour with a heavy spoon. Add the next cup of flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. Add a little more flour and begin kneading. The amount of flour is approximate since dough can be temperamental.

Continue adding flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled. (Usually, about an hour. Mine took about 2 hrs to rise enough.) Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead again before dividing in half into two balls.

Working with one half of the dough at a time, roll each ball of dough out onto a floured surface into a rectangle (approximately 8×12 inches). Sprinkle flour over the dough to keep from sticking as you roll. Make one slice lengthwise down the dough. Slicing from the other direction, make a slice down the middle, then again, until you have eight pieces. Sprinkle with cheese. Place about 3 pepperoni slices or sticks on each piece. Roll up, pinching seam to seal.

Let rise approximately 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes. (Watch carefully–the size of your rolls will vary the baking time–they’re done when they’ve browned.) Makes 16 rolls.

Cheers!

Life happens

SonyaAnn told me to post something so here I go....

I have been in school for last semester (2 classes) and this summer (2 classes) and working full time with extra responsibilities. I am still cooking - I even just got a pressure canner off of Craigslist for $50 :). I even took pictures of the stuff I cooked so that I can post about them later. Right now, I'm cleaning my apartment and trying to finish homework because tomorrow I get to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted (and I'm not even getting knocked out to have it done). Then, I don't even get to have Monday off (observed 4th of July) because I have to be at work at 4am for International coverage.... maybe at 4am I'll have time to post something more substantial :) with pictures of yumminess.

Well wish me luck with the teeth thing.... maybe I'll lose a few pounds since all I can eat is applesauce, yogurt and jello :)

Cheers!

Shrimp Burritos

My BF wanted me to try to make a mexican dish with shrimp. So I opted for shrimp burritos. They turned out pretty good. I would just make the rice a little different next time.

Shrimp Burritos

15-20 shrimp

1 tbsp butter

3-4 tbsp chopped onions

splash of lemon juice

light sprinkling of garlic powder and cilantro

First, prepare the rice. I made mine like a Chipolte knock-off. Boil rice with a dash of salt, a splash of lime juice and a generous sprinkling of cilantro. When the rice is almost done, melt the butter on a frying pan and saute the onions until they are translucent. I liked mine fairly browned. Add the shrimp, lemon juice, garlic powder and cilantro. Cook until shrimp are pink. I made my slightly browned. Remove from heat and wait for them to cool a little. Cut into little pieces.

Serve the shrimp and onions with your favorite burrito toppings. We had black beans, salsa verde with corn, sour cream and shredded cheese.

Makes roughly 4 medium sized burritos.

They were yummy :)

S'more Topped Brownies

Last weekend the BF and I met up with some friends to play some video games and hangout. I decided to make this to bring along. Eaten by itself or with some vanilla ice cream, it's delightful, as you can tell by my friends' face....

S'more Topped Brownies: adapted from Kate

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1-1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 eggs
1-1/2 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda (use 1/4 tsp if you like fudgey brownies)
1 1/2 cup broken graham crackers
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 cup mini marshmallows
1 Hershey bar, broken into individual pieces

1. Heat sugar and butter in a medium pot over low heat until butter is completely melted, stirring often. Remove from heat, stir in 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips until melted, and let cool to room temperature.

2. In a small bowl, briefly whisk the eggs. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of chocolate mixture to the eggs and stir to combine, just to temper the eggs. Then pour all of eggs into the pot with the melted chocolate. Stir to combine.

3. Stir in flour, vanilla and baking soda until well blended. Pour into a greased 13×9 casserole dish.

4. In a small bowl, combine the graham crackers and butter and sprinkle over the brownies. Add the marshmallows and the chocolate pieces.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Egg Bread

Mmmm. Yummy egg bread :) We were out of sammich bread so I pulled out my recipe book and made this delightful egg bread. It's almost like a challah but the texture is a bit different.

Heres my version:

Egg Bread
2-1/4 tsp yeast
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp nonfat dry milk
2 tbsp butter
1 cup water
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium eggs
1 tsp lemon juice

Add all items to bread machine in order for your model. You can bake it on white bread setting or you can remove it from the machine and place in a greased bread pan. Punch down the dough and let rise for another 10-20 mins in a warm place. Bake at 350* until top is golden - about 20 minutes. Quickly slice off the end of the loaf while it's still warm and slather with butter.

~Enjoy :)

Chicken Quesadilla

A few weeks ago, I had a craving for a Taco Bell quesadilla but didn't feel like going out because there was a ton of snow out. Luckily, I came up with this recipe. It's delicious and comes together in about 15 minutes.

Sauce

1 part softened cream cheese or sour cream

1 part mayo

1 tsp sugar

cayenne - to taste

paprika - to taste and for color

I usually do 3-4 tbsp cream cheese and 3-4 tbsp Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil

Chicken

2-3 breasts cut into little pieces

season chicken with Old El Paso seasoning or a mixture of cumin, garlic powder, seasoned salt and paprika

Fry the seasoned chicken pieces until no longer pink. Put chicken in a large bowl. Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken and mix well.

Spoon the chicken/sauce mixture onto half of a large burrito shell on a pan on medium heat. Sprinkle fiesta cheese over the filling and fold shell in half. (I love my split pan for this recipe :))

Let it warm enough to melt the cheese - about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove to plate and cut with pizza cutter. Makes about 6 quesadillas.

Enjoy!

Crocheted Dish Scrubbies

I got this idea and pattern from Suzanne. I haven't used them yet because they are too cute... I love the ruffles :)

I think they can double as trivets or pot holders. I've been using them to carry hot bowls of soup to the table/couch. They came together really fast too. I made the purple one at work while I was on break and lunch - total time about an hour and a half.

Cheers!