Roasted Potatoes

I may have mentioned before that I haven't met a potato I didn't like. This was no exception.

I modified the recipe from McCormick's website.

I didn't have any of the seasoning's they suggested, so I improvised.
I also didn't add onion like they suggest. 

Here's what I did: 

• Preheat oven to 425 and spray a baking pan w/cooking spray. (I used a 9x13 Glass Pyrex.)
• Cut six red potatoes into bite-size cubes and put them into a gallon sized zip lock. 
• Dump the following ingredients into the bag w/the potatoes:
•  3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1.5 teaspoons Garlic Powder 
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• Sprinkle in some pepper. (I use McCormick's Peppercorn Medley.)

• Shake it all up until the potatoes are nicely coated and dump it into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until golden to your liking. Stir occasionally. (I stirred about every 10-15 minutes.)

Throw it together with some chicken and asparagus and you have a le gourmet meal!

Bottle Cap Magnets

I don't really get along with this project and it seems so simple to do!

1.) Drink some beer and save the bottle caps. (I'm really good at this part.)
2.) Use a 1" circle punch to punch the pic.
3.) Glue pic to bottle cap and allow to dry.
4.) Put glossy substance over pic and allow to dry.
5.) Add magnet on the back of the bottle Cap.

Simple.

Or so it should be. The first time I attempted these, I half assed glued them down and didn't allow for drying time so when I added the glossy substance the pictures moved and sort of floated into weird positions. And there were bubbles in the glossy substance. This attempt, my glossy substance was a liquid glass of sorts I use for scrapbooking.

So this time, I filled the cap with a layer of glue and let the glue dry overnight. It still didn't really seem like it was dry but I'm impatient. Plus if it didn't dry in 12 hours I'm nit convinced it was gonna dry. Haha Anyway, I added the glossy substance. This time I used Mod Podge Magic Dimensions (or something like that) and, well, it dried wierd. Kind of concave. And with bubbles. :o|

Whatever. I was over it. I slapped a magnet on the back and sent them off to their unexpected recipient. She'll love them because she's not the anal critic I am and probably won't see all the flaws like I do. :o)

Not sure where to give the original credit to because the idea came from multiple pins on Pinterest and I probably checked out all of them to see where I was making mistakes sooooo - for original cred see various pins and blogs on Pinterest.

School House Treat Jar

So, I made another one of these guys. (You can find the instructions here.) This one was for one of my BFF's that runs her own in-home day care, hence the school house theme. My thought was it could be a special treat jar for her kids as a reward for when they have good behavior or do something kind, but of course she's welcome to use it however she sees fit! :o)

This is a left over from my pay it forward post from 2012. ("Pay it forward 2012. I promise to make something hand made to the first 5 people that comment. Then post this to your status and do the same... It can be as simple as a coffee, hand written note, or something more. Just has to be done in 2012.") The beauty of being a procrastinator is that the people that were promised these things have likely long forgotten that they've had it coming. So when it does finally come, they aren't expecting it and it becomes a random act of kindness that hopefully puts a smile on their face. 

She likes the "Live, Laugh, Love" saying so I threw in those cards to go with it. I think she was pleasantly surprised since this is the Facebook post that followed after she got it:

Basil Chicken Orzo Soup

Looking for a healthy, easy, comfort soup? Look no further. This recipe that came from "gimme some oven" is scrumpdilicious! I made some slight modifications.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 3 cubes of Dorot frozen garlic.)
• 8 cups good-quality chicken stock or broth
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (I used 3 cubes of Dorot frozen basil.)
• 1 cup dried orzo pasta

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large cooking pot over medium-high heat.
• Add carrots, celery and garlic then stir for 60 seconds. 
• Stir in chicken stock, chicken, and bay leaves. 
• Let simmer for an hour (or 30 minutes if you're rushed). 
• Bring soup back to a boil.
• Add basil and orzo - cooking according to package directions. 

Yum! I have made it twice now and it's a dish K and I both like. 

It's a bit on the salty side as is so be sure to taste test before you add any salt! 

Also, if you have leftovers, be forewarned that the Orzo seems to soak up all the broth making it less soupy. K eats it as is, but I add a little water to mine before heating it up and it's fine. 

P.S. This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly!

6 Points Per Serving: 

Calories:  259

Carbs:  32

Fat:  3

Protien:  23

Interchangeable Picture Plaque

This lil guy couldn't have been more simple and less cost effective! I got the plaque from the dollar store for - you guessed it! - $1! I had the paper, Mod Podge, paint brush, photo corners, and pictures.

All I did was remove the wire hanger. Then I Mod Podged the paper to the plaque. Let it dry, then put a couple more layers of Mod Podge to seal it. Once that dried, I pushed a tack through the paper where the holes already were on the plaque and re-threaded the wire. Then I put the photo corners on on the picture and attached the picture to the plaque.

I could definitely be embellished more if you wanted to. I love that the picture can be changed out. Once I started this project, it took everything in me to not run out to the dollar store and buy 16 more plaques because I suddenly had several pictures I could use and multiple ideas for gifts for people!