In the Kitchen- Spinach Artichoke Cups

Spinach Artichoke Dip Baked in it's Own Bread Bowl = Mess Free Appetizer

I made these for a recent sewing workshop and they were fantastic!  I wanted something that was mess free, that people could eat without using flatware, and these was perfect.  A couple years ago I made them for a baby shower but used a loaf of refrigerated French bread instead of the crescent rolls... both are good options!

This dip is also excellent baked in a 9x9 casserole dish and served with tortilla chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop drained artichoke hearts in a food processor.  Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic, and garlic salt.

Roll out crescent roll dough on a floured surface, using a rolling pin or smooth glass, roll out the dough so that there are no seams.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 equal(ish) squares.

Place dough squares in a greased mini muffin pan, pressing the centers in to create cups.  Fill each dough cup with a scoop of filling, using a small portion scoop.

Top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until dough is golden brown and the cheese has melted.  Use a small heat resistant silicone spatula to pry cups from the pan.  Serve warm!  

Recipe 

Spinach Artichoke Cups

Makes 24 Cups

Ingredients:

2 packages of reduced fat refrigerated crescent roll dough (like Pillsbury)

1 10 ounce box frozen spinach, thawed and drained well (I use a metal sieve and spoon to push out all the liquid.)

1 8 ounce package reduced fat cream cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup reduced fat mayonnaise (I use the one with olive oil.)

2 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons garlic salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop drained artichoke hearts in a food processor.  Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic, and garlic salt.  Roll out crescent roll dough on a floured surface, using a rolling pin or smooth glass, roll out the dough so that there are no seams.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 equal squares.  Place dough squares in a greased mini muffin pan, pressing the centers in to create cups.  Fill each dough cup with a scoop of filling, using a small portion scoop.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until dough is golden brown and the cheese has melted.  Use a small heat resistant silicone spatula to pry cups from the pan. Serve warm!     

Optional:

*Use refrigerated French bread dough in place of the crescent roll dough.

**Combine ingredients as directed.  Place in a greased 9x9 baking dish, top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Serve with chips.

Cheers!

In the Kitchen- Pink Stuff or Pink Fluff

Mom's Holiday Food Recipes: Pink Stuff

I want to share some of my Mom's favorite Holiday recipes over the next few weeks.  I am starting with a dessert staple, we always called it 'the pink stuff' or pink fluff.  If you like whipped cream, cherries, and pineapples, you will love this!  It's sweet, creamy, and a little tart.  It was always, always, always on the menu at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and usually sprinkled in an additional few times a year.  My Mom loved it, I love it, and two of my three girls love it!  Phoebe doesn't like whipped cream...so weird.

The ingredients, so simple.  You can also add shredded coconut, chopped pecans, and mini marshmallows, but I think they just get in the way and like to stick to just cherries and pineapples.

This may be the easiest dessert recipe of all time.  You dump all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and fold them together, and you're done!  It will store it in the fridge for up to seven days, that means it's something you can make ahead of time (always a plus).

Pink Fluff Stuff Recipe

Ingredients:

16 oz Light Whipped Topping (it's the larger tub)

1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk

1 can cherry pie filling

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

Optional:

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup mini marshmallows

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and fold together.  (Folding instead of stirring will keep it fluffier.)  Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Pillow Sewing Workshop Recap

Christmas Pillow Cover 

Sewing Workshop Recap

I am getting back in the swing of things and restarting my monthly sewing workshops!  To kick them off, I hosted a Christmas Pillow Cover Workshop in my home this month, and wanted to share some snapshots with you.  The class was 3 hours long, and everyone completed a 16x16 zippered pillow cover with a Christmas appliqué.  There was food and beverages, and lots of girly chit chat, everyone had a great time!

If you missed the class and want a copy of the instruction workbook, you can purchase one on my Etsy shop here: Christmas Pillow Cover Tutorial

I served buffalo wing pretzel sticks, spinach artichoke cups, pears and blackberries, and caramel walnut brownies.  Find the recipes here:

Spinach Artichoke Cups

Buffalo Wing Pretzel Sticks

Ghiradelli Chocolate Caramel Turtle Brownie Mix

Everyone had the option to purchase their own fabrics to match their decor, or I would supply the red and grey check, and black felt.  Here are the completed projects:

I will be hosting a sewing basics workshop in January, for beginners!  We will go through getting acquainted with your machine, from threading the machine, adjusting stitch length and type, to finishing seams.  You will go home with a workbook and labeled sewing samples for future reference.  Food, beverages, and lots of laughter will be served!

Workshop will be held in Bixby, Oklahoma.  I will email class supply lists on January 1, 2015.  Seats are limited, click on the link to pay and reserve your spot:

In the Kitchen- Chicken Enchilada Soup

Chicken Enchilada Soup

(Tastes just Like Chili's)

Heat 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil in a stock pot.  Brown 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast.

Remove chicken, set it aside.  Add 1 small diced onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Cook until the onion becomes translucent.

Add 4 cups of chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer.

Mix 1 cup of masa harina with 2 cups of water.  It will have the consistency of thin cream of wheat.  This is corn flour and is what really gives it that enchilada taste and texture.  It was really hard for me to find at the grocery store.  I ended up finding it in the Mexican food isle and it was labeled as masa for tamales.  It comes in a paper bag like regular flour. 

Add the masa harina mixture to your stock.  Then add 1 small can of red enchilada sauce, and 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 tablespoon of cumin to your stock pot.

Dice your chicken breast and add it to your stock pot.

Bring it back to a simmer and slowly add 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Add one small handful of cheese at a time to keep it from sticking together, stir it, let it melt and add another handful, and repeat, until you are done.

It's not very pretty, but it is DELICOUS!!!

Top with diced tomatoes, sliced green onions and corn tortilla chips.  I pan fried corn tortillas in coconut oil, sprinkled on some coarse sea salt, cut them in half and added a piece to each bowl.  They looked nice and the were good for dipping.  They were also a little chewy, I really liked the texture.

Adapted from Top Secret Recipes

Recipe
Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast
1 small diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 cup masa harina
1 small can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Garnish:
Diced tomatoes
Sliced green onions
Corn tortilla chips

Instructions:
Heat coconut oil in a stock pot over medium heat, add chicken breast and brown for about 6 minutes on each side.  Set chicken aside.  Add onions and garlic to the stock pot, cook for a few minutes, until onions become translucent.  Add chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine masa harina and 2 cups of water, then add it to the onion and stock mixture.  Add the enchilada sauce, seasonings, additional cup of water to the stock pot.  Dice the chicken breast and add it to the stock pot.  Bring to a simmer, add cheese slowly, one small handful at a time, stir as you add it.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Garnish soup bowls with tomatoes, green onions, and tortilla chips.

Ole!

DIY- Homemade Play Dough

Cherry Kool Aid Play Dough

Quick, Non-Toxic Recipe that Smells Great

My 2 year olds preschool teacher has been making play dough and dying it the color of the week, and each time they play with it, it's the highlight of Sophia's week!  Everyday she tells me if Ms. Kerri gave her play dough or not.  Sometimes she brings a bag home and will play with it for a good hour or so at a time.  My 4 year old doesn't like the way it smells,and complains A LOT about it.  So, when I went looking for a homemade receip to make our own, I saw a Kool Aid dyed one, and I knew Phoebe wouldn't complain about the smell, in fact, I was afraid she might eat it because it smells so good! I found the recipe here:

The Connection We Share

It is a little softer than store bought Play-Doh, but we we're able to use it in almost all of our little molds & accessories.  The color was really vibrant, I suppose you could use half a package of Kool Aid to make a pastel shade. But made enough for me to give 3 littles a pretty good size chunk to play with.

 

 

 

Play Dough Recipe

 

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

1 cup water

1-1/2 tablespoons canola oil

1 package Kool-Aid 

Directions:

Mix other flour, salt, and Kool-Aid in a medium mixing bowl.  In a small sauce pan, bring water and vegetable oil to a boil.  Pour boiling water mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture.  Stir.  Knead for a couple minutes until the color and texture is smooth.  It will be hot, be careful!

This girl LOVES play dough, and she was the best little helper!

Cheers!

In the Kitchen: Roasted Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus with

Olive Oil and Lemon Pepper

Seriously, seriously, the best way to eat asparagus, THE BEST!  I was never an asparagus fan, neither was my hubs, UNTIL I saw Rachael Ray do it like this.  My entire family, 2 year old included, can't get enough of it!  We usually eat it straight off the pan before we can even get it to our plates.

Ingredients: 

Fresh asparagus 

Olive oil (I prefer using a mister)

Lemon pepper 

Instructions:

Set oven to broil.  Since these are thin stalks I set it to low, if they are thicker, set the broiler to high.  Rinse the asparagus, then snap the ends off, where the bottom inch or two, snaps off easily.  This will ensure you don't have rough, chewy, stringy ends.

Lay it out on a sheet pan in a single layer.  Drizzle or mist with olive oil. Sprinkle on lemon pepper generously. 

 

Broil for 10 minutes or until it starts to shrivel, but doesn't turn black/dark.

 

Take it out of the oven, and try not to eat it all off the pan!

 

 

Yum!!!