April 27, 2014

Free To Be Me Workshop

Here is a card I made from the CTMH Free To Be Me Workshop, available in May only! There are two other card layouts and two scrapbooking layouts that can be made too, but this one was my favourite:


April 27, 2014

One Sheet Wonder

I first saw this project on Vicki Wizniuk's blog and immediately wanted to make one of my own. I received the fabulous directions for this project from Angie Kennedy Juda for joining her mail list. If you would like the instructions too, join her mail list and you will receive them for free! Once I started creating, I couldn't stop and decided to do 3 of these projects - all just using one sheet of patterned paper each! Such a great idea for using up some of those paperpacks hanging around. Here is what I created:

All paperpacks are from Close To My Heart:

Jubilee

Sonoma

Stella

Here is what I put inside the 3D projects:

Square box: chocolates from Sweet Gestures in Cranbrook, BC

Triangle box: jewellery from Muriel & Jane's General Store in Cranbrook, BC

Tea holder: loose-leaf tea from Tigz Designs in Creston, BC - Creston Cherry Rose, Chilly Willy PeppermintMountain Huckleberry

Stamp sets: A Chocolate Affair, Cricut Artiste Collection Kudos, Love Blooms (CTMH), 
Better With You, Delightful & Delicious (Verve Stamps); 
Cardstock: Honey, Cashmere, Indian Corn Blue, Topiary, Bamboo, Smokey Plum, Cocoa, Lagoon, Sunset (CTMH); 
Ink: Cocoa, Indian Corn Blue, Honey, Sweet Leaf, Chocolate, Smokey Plum, Lagoon, Sunset (CTMH);
Shapes cut from Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (CTMH).
April 22, 2014 in

Mexican Bowl

It's Taco Tuesday!!! Quite often, I like to go with a Mexican theme on Tuesdays just to say the name haha ;). I first saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to adapt it tonight.

Mexican Bowl - serves 4


1/2 lb. lean ground beef
2 cups macaroni 
1 can tomato sauce (398mL)
2 cups homemade salsa 
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 cup corn kernels
*optional* 1 cup black beans
3/4 cup shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese mix
1 avocado, halved, pealed and diced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 350F. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, brown ground beef in a large skillet. Stir in tomato sauce and salsa. Add pasta, tomato, corn, and beans if using, and gently toss to combine. Stir in most of the cheese and pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake in oven until slightly golden and bubbly, approximately 8 minutes, broiling for the last 2 minutes if desired. Serve with avocado and cilantro sprinkled on top.
Next month is National Scrapbooking Month, and to celebrate Close To My Heart is releasing a fabulous new paperpack Free To Be Me.
This May only, spend $50 and you can get this paper collection for $5. Contact me to place an order.

I made my own card using these papers and the fantastic layout over at Retro Sketches this week. The gold polkadots are on a vellum paper and the green cardstock is embossed on one side.
All supplies are Close To My Heart: 
Free To Be Me paperpack
Colonial White cardstock
Cranberry ink
Say It In Style stamp set
Color-Ready wooden shapes - Garden
Clear Sparkles
Baker's Twine - Lagoon

I had the honour of being asked to do a set of wedding invites this spring for my friend, Kristen. Her wedding theme is classic and she adores the colour red. She and her fiancé both loved the pearl opaques I had and we decided to put sets of three (which happens to fit in with The Paper Players Challenge this week) on the outside and inside of their invites.

All supplies are Close To My Heart: cardstock - Cranberry, Black, White Daisy; Bitty Pearl Opaques.
I am quite into making ravioli right now with my handy new tool, and since my mom was coming over this weekend, I wanted to whip up a batch for her. This time, I decided to try a butternut squash filling. Sage pairs very well with butternut squash, so I thought I would add it to my browned butter sauce.

Make 1 batch of pasta dough




Butternut Squash Ravioli filling
1 large butternut squash (or 2 small)
Olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Cinnamon
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel the butternut squash and cut into chunks. In a casserole dish toss the butternut squash chunks with olive oil, red pepper flakes and cinnamon. If you would like a sweeter ravioli, add more cinnamon than pepper flakes; if you would like a ravioli with a bit of a kick, add slightly more pepper flakes than cinnamon. Place covered casserole dish into oven for 40-45 minutes or until soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes or so. Mash with Parmesan. Set aside until ready to fill ravioli.



Sage Browned Butter Sauce
1/2 cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash ground black pepper
12 sage leaves

Melt butter in a saucepan with the garlic. Add sage leaves. Continue to heat butter sauce for 5-8 more minutes as it begins to brown.

© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS