Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Dinner In A Pumpkin Recipe

There are still THREE dinners between now and the day after Halloween, so you DEFINITELY have time to try this festive recipe. Fall is all about pumpkins, so I think you can make this through Thanksgiving!

My family has a tradition of making DINNER IN A PUMPKIN every Halloween. This was my first year making it for my own little family! It is a really REALLY simple recipe that you can modify easily to your family's taste. I serve it with rolls and find myself making a sloppy joe out of it. It's seriously SO good. My sister adds RICE to hers -- so that's a yummy suggestion to try, too. The best part is how soft and delicious the pumpkin gets while baking. It scoops right out. The pumpkin bite is THE YUMMIEST. You don't need a massive pumpkin, either. Make sure you pick one that will fit in your oven! Whether you're cooking for one, two or a family of eight -- this dish is sure to delight everyone. Enjoy!


Dinner in a Pumpkin
serves many! :)

One pumpkin {clean out seeds}
Two pounds ground beef or sausage
One can SPAM {ok ok you can use 1lb ground ham if you're not a SPAMmer}
One can tomato sauce {regular size can}
Two teaspoons oregano
Two cloves garlic, minced
Two and a half tablespoons onion
One chopped green pepper
One teaspoon vinegar
Three eggs, beaten
Two and a half teaspoons salt
One teaspoon pepper
{remember -- you can add minute rice, if you please}
{if you LOVE the pumpkin flavor, add a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice!}
*remove/add whatever you like - it's all yummy!*
Combine all but pumpkin and fry until tender. Place pumpkin on cookie sheet, then add mixture to your beautifully scooped pumpkin, place the lid, take your Instagram photo and bake at 350 degrees for ninety minutes. Serve dinner from pumpkin!

MMMMMMMmmmmmmm.

Now I want to eat it again.
In fact, I think I will.






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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Easy No Bake Cheesecake In A Jar {with labels!}

Yum.

That is one of my favorite words: YUM!

Because it usually means I am either looking at or partaking of something delectable and most likely full of sugar and butter.

Yum.

Today's post is full of YUM. And full of EASY. It's no bake cheesecake in a jar! If this treat was any easier, it would be a sin. I looked through a GAJILLION recipes online to find one that sounded easy and yummy and that I had most everything in my cupboards. The one I decided on was just a photo of a recipe from Woman's Day magazine. I twerked tweaked it a little {hardy har har} to get it juuuuuust right the way I liked it. Again. Super easy. And of course - super YUM.


The photo I found online where my recipe came from {womansday.com}

 Here is my version of the recipe:

No Bake Cheesecake In A Jar
serving size: 6 jelly jars or 3 pint jars

supplies:
  1. one and a half 8oz packages cream cheese
  2. three tablespoons sugar
  3. one cup heavy cream
  4. two teaspoons lemon juice {or more to taste}
  5. graham cracker crumbs {easy to crush your own or buy in a box}
  6. strawberries {or fruit of your choosing // can use pie topping as alternative}
  7. strawberry glaze {usually found in the produce by the shortcake}
  8. mason jars {I used pint jars}

the fun part:
  1. mix the cream cheese and sugar {I used my KitchenAid} until smooth. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream. Increase speed to high until cheesecake is thick, creamy and maximum deliciousness is achieved {just a couple of minutes}, then add lemon juice and mix a minute more.
  2. Test cheesecake batter with finger. May need second taste test {or third...or fourth...}.
  3. Now layer! graham crackers crumbs << cheesecake << strawberries << cheesecake << glaze << strawberries 
  4. Try really hard not to eat YUM treat before giving it to your friend...or decide you don't really need friends and eat YUM treat instead.

YUM, right? YUM YUM YUM.

Just once more: YUM.

If you so desire, you can print these adorbs labels to add to your mason jar. I used Silhouette Sticker Paper to print and cut my labels with my Cameo.  If you want the Studio file, leave me a comment, and I'll post a link to the free file you can download and use.

Alrighty. Here you go!





YUM

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

SHARE THE LOVE GIVEAWAY ~maternity shirt~

I'm so excited to announce that I am doing a GIVEAWAY!

I have a shop on StorEnvy where I sell my Maternity Countdown Shirts. It's called Put A Bird On It -- just like my li'l ol' blog here. Here's the link!   http://putabirdonitshop.storenvy.com


 I'm hoping this giveaway will get the word out about my shop and hopefully get some new followers here on my blog. And -- most importantly -- help one more person get a cute baby bump shirt. Even if you aren't pregnant - or married - or a girl - you know you totally want this shirt. Give it to a friend {baby shower!}. Plan for your future. Or you can even wear it cuddled up in front of the fire, watching Kardashians and drinking hot cocoa - crossing off a number each time a sister mentions their derriere {you'll finish you shirt pretty fast!}. That's what I would do. :)


You can enter using Rafflecopter below! Don't forget to share with basically every cool person you know and maybe the not so cool ones too. :) Share the love!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Even if you don't want to enter {or -- the sad ending -- you don't win!}, you can still get your hands on a purdy little shirt by clicking the shop link above. AND, since I love love {and you}, use the promo code SHARETHELOVE to get 20% off your order {during the giveaway}. Cheers!

The giveaway ends Sunday, Oct 27 at midnight, so enter while you can!

XO

Monday, October 21, 2013

Free Printables

I just wanted to share the LINK to my box{dot}com folder where all my Free Printables live and party. So maybe you'll want to join the fun.




Saturday, October 19, 2013

Featured!

I just have to post about a couple places I've been FEATURED THIS WEEKEND!

Yesterday, I was talking to my husband about how much I love this blog and crafting. It's my new hobby -- something I can put my time and creative energy into -- something I love doing. And even if it's just for me, I love it, and will keep doing it as long as I love it. But I told him -- I just live for a comment on my blog. It's pretty pathetic, ha ha. But I always check to see if I have a comment awaiting moderation. More confessions! Oh, well, it's sad, but it's rewarding when I think that someone likes something I've posted, and it helps me think I might actually be ok at this little hobby of mine. Well, this weekend I have had TWO AWESOME moments of being able to think I'm doing ok. I was featured - twice - on two awesome BLOGS!

The first was by Confessions of a Plate Addict, who featured my You've Been Booed Printable.

Then, as if it couldn't get any better, I had a comment from the fabulous, amazingly talented Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous saying she featured my Candy Corn Cocoa on her Craft Therapy post on Facebook. SERIOUSLY I ABOUT CRIED. Because she is THAT amazing and it is an honor to know she even GLANCED at my blog and thought that something I created was worthy of being featured on her Facebook page. And it just made me feel so cheesy and so good.

So tonight, I am on cloud nine - no - cloud TEN. Just feeling like maybe -- just maybe -- I'm ok at this little hobby of mine.  :)




Thursday, October 17, 2013

Candy Corn Cocoa

CONFESSION:

I don't like candy corn!!

There. I said it. I guess I have to wear my red letter A (or orange letter C?) around town this time of year. It just does nothing for me. I'm more of a reese's pumpkins / ghost peeps kind of girl. But basically everyone else in the world loves candy corn! It's the perfect Halloween treat. I created a little candy corn cocoa mix to give for my "You've Been Booed" treat {free printable HERE!}. It is easy, cute, and YUMMY.

What you'll need:

  • Mason Jar
  • Halloween Ribbon
  • Hot Cocoa Mix
  • Mini marshmallows {try the ghost mallows for a spooky touch!}
  • CANDY CORN
Simply layer the hot cocoa mix, mini mallows and candy corn in your mason jar. Close it up, add some ribbon, and you're done! Super easy, super cute, and super yummy, right?

I added a BOO! sticker I printed using Silhouette sticker paper and a couple stripey Halloween straws to finish it off.

And, to be honest, this kind of made me want to eat the candy corn...



If you make this, link it up! I'd love to see!



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

You've Been Booed {2013} free printable

Last year, I created a free printable for the fun neighbor "You've Been Booed" tradition. I didn't actually deliver them to anyone, though! I even made choco covered halloween Oreos and had them all in their bags with signs ready to go -- but kept forgetting to take them and then HALLOWEEN CAME AND WENT with my bags sitting by my front door. SAD!!! I couldn't be lame two years in a row, so I decided to actually deliver the treats this time! I wanted to make a new printable, just to start a tradition of making a new one every year. This time, I tried to play off the popular CHALKBOARD theme I'm seeing all over Pinterest. I made a door hanger BOO sign as an alternative to a sign you put up in your window. It was fun coming up with a design. I'm still so new at this! But I have fun, make mistakes, never think it's cute enough, change it a million times, then just STOP at some random point and print it out, because I'm tired of editing it! I also made up my own Candy Corn Cocoa mix {blog post coming soon!}.


Here are your download links. Happy Halloween!









Want to try Candy Corn Cocoa? Check out my posts HERE!


Here are more ghoulish delights from me!













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Expecting a little boo soon? Buy a Maternity Countdown Shirt HERE!


Saturday, October 5, 2013

Make the Most of Conference ~free printable~

You may know this weekend is General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! If not, you can go HERE {www.lds.org} to find out more about this fantastic weekend, where people all over the world get together at the conference center, stake centers, ward buildings, and their homes to listen to a prophet's voice. It truly is a weekend just meant to inspire, to uplift, to lighten the load, and to give hope! Well, it's not just for adults -- it's for kids, too. And as hard of a time as I have sitting still during conference (yes, I admit to being a phone troll during a talk or two), it is even harder to get kids to get excited and interested in remembering conference weekend.  My husband and I teach a youth Sunday School class for our church, the kids are ages 12-14. I wanted them to remember conference weekend! So I found this cute handout reminding the kids to Make the Most of conference. I found the phrasing online, but created my own, simple version of the handout in cute fall colors. I attached it to packets of M&M's, used some cute ocean blue ribbon to tie it together, and delivered it to our Sunday School kids the day before conference -- to remind them to watch! I hope this small gesture helped them tune in to a talk or two -- because you never know when you are going to hear something that just might lift your spirits or make your day a little easier.


As always, here are your links to download!!!!!




Wouldn't the M&M's be perfect to then use for Conference Bingo?!?!