It's Recipe Time!

Well, it is fall after all!  So my post on FB and here are mainly about bagging leaves!  HA  I'm not sure what else I have been putting in a lot of effort in but....leaves are one chore!  This is the last tree in our yard that needs to drop its leaves!  I am sure our neighbor is looking forward to not seeing them in their yard (that's there house behind the tree!).  Bob and I do rake in their yard to pick up leaves.  We try to be a good neighbor!

The other, so called chore, is  making new recipes from the web site Half Baked Harvest!  I love her recipes and have two of her books.  If you enjoy trying new recipes, sign up for her emails.  I'm posting just a few of the ones I've made over the past few months...YUM!

Rosemary Chicken and Avocado Bacon Pitas with Honey Feta Sauce:  Don't let the Feta throw you if you're not a fan.  I used 2 ounces of Feta and 1/2 cup sour cream!  Perfect!  This was excellent!

Crockpot crispy chicken tinga tacos with Jalapeno Avocado Crema:  Another excellent meal!!!  OMG...so good!!!!  Yes, I love her Mexican recipes...one more coming!

Weeknight Cheesy Baked Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch:  Similar to above but also SO good!!!

Slow Cooker Mustard herb Chicken and creamy Orzo:  I used rice (I made ahead) instead of Orzo and sour cream instead of heavy cream.  Another winner!!!

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast:  OK, I cheated and just used a store bought spinach dip for the filling!  This was delicious!!!  I only used one chicken breast (large) which I cut in half then sliced half for the stuffing.  Not a Harvest recipe either....

I still had a small piece of chicken left over so  I made Bob a gourmet sandwich tonight!  I put some Jalapeno jelly on once side of a ciabatta bread, one slice of white cheddar cheese, some sliced apples and the left over piece of chicken (sliced).   (I used Ciabatta Roll - take & bake - you bake room temp roll for 5 min.  After it cooled, I added ingredients then wrapped in foil and kept in warm oven for about 10 min.)  YUM!!!

One Pan Maple Dijon chicken and Butternut Squash:  This was so easy to prep in the a.m. and just toss the squash in oven first, then I put the chicken on the opposite side of the squash (her recipe says to lay chicken on top of squash but I wanted them separate!).  This wasn't from Half Baked Harvest....but really a good recipe! 

I am also knitting a row now and then!  Christmas target date??  I hope~!

ENJOY being Betty Crocker!  Do let me know if you made one or more of the recipes!!! 

Heloise is back! Well, sorta!

 OK, so I'm not Heloise but I do have some items I've recently purchased based on tips from others.  I've used each of these and love them all!  Most I have purchased via Amazon, as they had the best price but you can always do a Google search if you are so inclined to research an item!  Hope you enjoy!

I am always slicing/dicing veggies of some sort for us and for the dogs!  I love this veggie chopper.  It's called the Fullstar Vegetable Chopper & Spiralizer and under $20 (Amazon).  It's easy to use and cuts perfect veggies!  I haven't tried the spiralizer yet but it also looks easy to use.  They also include little brushes/combs with it to clean out the dicers.  

This was recommended by someone I follow on Instagram and she was spot on!  A family of five (set of triplets) and they are a wonderful family.  If you're on Instagram, check them out:  (https://www.instagram.com/draggin_our_wagon/)

For those Portuguese knitters, if there are any out there!, I purchased this necklace from Andrea Wong's web site.  Portuguese knitting uses either a knitting pin, magnetic pin or you can wrap the yarn around your neck.  I have the pins but I'm trying to loosen my knitting tension and decided I would try this necklace.  It's the same principle as having the yarn around your neck, you just place the yarn on this necklace...and if you forget to take it off, you're all dressed up!  I have left my magnetic pin on from time to time and noticed it when I was walking the dogs.  At least I looked dressed up as mine has jewels on it!  Again, this necklace was under $20.

Who knew parchment paper came with a grid!  I sure didn't!  Found this out by one of the ladies in Margarita's class this past week!  I found it at Kroger's.  

This was another recommendation by the Instagram lady (above).  These are wonderful grippers for your rugs.  I have one by the back door that is always sliding away!  But now that I've put these on, it's been staying in place!!!   They are  called Home Techpro Grippers and under $20 (Amazon).

I haven't washed my rug yet but I have read reviews and the product also states no problem with washing.  Love these!  My next Amazon order I'm getting another set (4 in a set).  

I know a lot of us use transfer paper for our images in quilts or even on T-shirts.  I would venture to say most purchase from JoAnn fabrics or another craft store.  This item was recommended in our online class with Hilary.  It is WONDERFUL!  First off, I only bought the 'for light fabrics' as we were using it to transfer pictures to our papers.  I think they also have a dark transfer paper.  I have used this to transfer to fabric and paper, which you can see the paper transfers here on my blog.

The other cool thing is you can remove the transfer from the paper and iron (using the parchment paper) to get a really light transfer.  Again, I am using this mainly for transferring to paper.  I ordered the 40 count and felt it was very reasonable and actually a better product.  It's very, very lightweight on your fabric and doesn't crack!  

So that's all this Heloise has to offer this week!!!  I do have some new authors/books to share, which I'll try to do this next week sometime.  I'm working on finishing up four challenge 12"x12" quiltlets for our exchange in October, in addition to knitting, working on our online class and 'wanting' to make another cloth paper quilt based on our workshop last week by Margarita K. 

Yes, another recipe!

I spent the day preparing for Christmas Eve with my kids and packing up some items for our trip.
I also made this Black and White Bark candy which is a recipe from Tommy F. on Tommy Cooks blog. Tommy's recipes are usually very easy to make and this one is as well. Plus, it's very good! I saved a few pieces for Bob and I and we've already eaten them.
I honestly can't believe the wonderful weather we've had lately! No real snow to speak of and temps up until today were in the 40's. Today it was only in the low 20's but Kalee and I did go for a walk. She wore her boot and coat (I'll post pics on her blog shortly. She loves the cold weather. Fortunately, the Ocala weather in the winter isn't in the 80's very often. Which is fine with me as well. The weather there always reminds me of spring weather or early summer with temps in the 70's. Always a breeze and never humid in the winter. Perfect for this snow bird.
Well, I might have to steal a piece of candy from my container for tomorrow! Hope no one misses another piece or two!

Recipe Time

Well, I was a bit under the weather..started with ANOTHER sore throat Monday and just felt really bad yesterday. Lots of aspirin, orange juice and just rested all day yesterday. Still slight sore throat today but at least I feel like I have some energy! Not having a cold for TWO years has me spoiled! Guess I'm making up for it!

I love making appetizer's and of course Bob and I love to eat so...these are two recipes that I love, love, love. So much so it's what we had for dinner the other day! The first is a corn salsa from Food Network Magazine that is awesome. I made this when my sister came to visit this summer and now I always keep some frozen corn in the freezer just in case!

And this next dish is SO, SO, good! Our friend, Jan, from Florida made this for us a few years ago and shared the recipe. At Bonefish Grill, they have this as one of their appetizers and Jan found the recipe. Again, it's from Food Network! The shrimp is delicious and the sauce is just the best! If you're looking for some appetizers for the holidays, these can't be beat! And you just thought I beaded!