CILANTRO AND LIME RICE ***ACCOMPLISHED***

The following receipe is from Closet Cooking on his blog and it is tweaked copycat/upgraded version of the rice in Chipotle's burritos.

As I use quick rice, I and have dried instead of fresh cilantro, I will be tweaking it further, but I love how this sounds.

http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/03/cilantro-and-lime-rice.html

Cilantro and Lime Rice by Closet Cooking(makes 4+ side dish servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil


• 1/2 onion (chopped)


• 1 clove garlic (chopped)


• 1 cup long grained rice (I like to use brown)


• 2 cups water1 handful cilantro (chopped)


• 1 lime (juice and zest)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a pan.

2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.

4. Add the rice and toast in the oil for a few minutes.

5. Add the water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered until tender, about 20 minutes for white rice or 40-50 minutes for brown.

6. Remove from the heat and mix in the cilantro, lime juice and zest.

****************ACCOMPLISHED************************************

Apricot and White Chocolate Cookies

I found the following receipe at Closet Cooking and it sounded like something different and interesting I would like to try to make.

http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/04/apricot-and-white-chocolate-oatmeal.html

Apricot and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies by Closet Cooking(makes 16+ cookies)Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 cup white sugar1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dried apricots (chopped)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate (coarsely chopped)

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl.

2. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

3. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl.

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.

5. Mix in the rolled oats, apricots and white chocolate.

6. Place the dough onto a cookie sheet one table spoon at a time.

7. Bake in a 350F preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.

Grilled Cheesecake Sandwiches

I learned of this cool idea from a link through Craft's online blog which linked to this blog

http://www.cakespy.com/2009/04/grilled-cheesecake-sweet-take-on.html

You use pound cake as the "bread" and a slice of cheesecake like cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich in the center and grill it like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. Sound delicious!

Cinco De Mayo Dollar Store Centerpieces

http://entertainexchange.blogspot.com/2009/04/fiesta-style-tablescape-cinco-de-mayo.html

I saw this at the above site and loved it!

I thinks this would make a great festive centerpiece not just for Cinco De Mayo, but anytime someone would serve Mexican food. I will probably just use empty glass jars I have saved and then put a tealight for candle.

GRADUATION IDEAS

Although it is still a few years before Kyle graduates, it is never too early to start looking around for good ideas for a party and decorations as I want it to be a special occassion.

I love these little hats at No Fuss Fabulous that are made out of little Reece's cups and a square or chocolate.

http://www.nofussfabulous.com/?attachment_id=5231

I also have an idea for a serving dish by using black bowl for the cap and a black plate glued to the top and some sort of tassel or maybe just a fruit rollup rolled up for the tassel. The challenge is going to be finding a black plate that will work - while spray painting the bottom bowl is ok, I don't like the idea of serving food on something that has been spray painted.



http://familycrafts.about.com/od/eggcartoncrafts/a/ecgradcap.htm
This is made out the cup off an egg carton for the cap, a piece of cardboard painted with acrylic paint and a piece of yarn for the tassle. This would made a cute decoration or even be used to decorate a graduation present for little to no cost (I usually have all the stuff to make this around the house).

Over at Little Birdie Secrets, they have a tutorial on how to make a felt graduation cap

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/05/cue-pomp-and-circumstance.html

Thrifty Decor Chick: Make a sofa table for under $20. (For real.)

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2009/04/make-sofa-table-for-under-20-for-real.html
This would be great to make and put behind the couch Kyle uses, as the seems to think the area behind the couch is his closet and throws all his clothes behind it - building this would deter this.

I would probably make mine with more depth and store my Christmas bear collection underneath and put a lamp of two on the back as he does his homework on the couch (despite having a perfectly well lit desk in his room).

I showed it to Marv and he said this should be doable for under $20. I volunteered to work part of Memorial Day at work - maybe I can volunteer a few more hours to cover the cost as I really like this idea.

LEMON COCONUT BREAD***ACCOMPLISHED***

I found the yummy sounding recipe at Baking Bites. She notes that the recipe is based on one of her favorite quickbread, which is a recipe for Coconut Bread from bills, Bill Granger’s restaurant in Sydney, Australia to which she spiced up with lemon juice and zest.

http://bakingbites.com/2009/04/lemon-coconut-bread/

• "1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cups milk (lowfat is fine)
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Stir in sugar and coconut.In a medium bowl or a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in egg mixture.

Stir until just combined and only a few streaks of flour remain. Add in melted butter and stir until just smooth, being careful not to overmix.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf."

As the loaf needs to be baked for an hour or more, this will be more of a cold weather day project (maybe tomorrow as it was chilly out today) so it can help warm up the apartment.

**************************************************************************

ACCOMPLISHED

VAMPIRE COOKIES

This recipe will be awesome to make at Halloween and is from
http://bakingbites.com/2008/10/vampire-cookies/#


" Vampire Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp saltapprox
• 1/2 cup red jam (raspberry/strawberry)
  

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and extracts.Add flour and salt to the bowl and mix them into the butter-sugar mixture at low speed until dough is just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325F.Divide dough in half and keep the portion you are not using in the refrigerator.Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 2-inch rounds.Place rounds on a baking sheet, put a teaspoon of jam on each of them and cover with another round of dough. Press edges down lightly, pinching the edges onto the cookie sheet. Use a toothpick and poke two small holes (like a vampire bite) in the top of each cookie.Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set.Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dip a toothpick in some extra red jam and re-insert in the “bite” holes you made before baking to emphasize them, if not already red. Draw a blood trick down from one of the bites with the jam, if desired. Cookies are best the day they are made.

Makes 2 dozen."

COCONUT MACAROON BIRDS NESTS

This receipe is also from "No Fuss Fabulous" and although I have everything in my cupboard to make these, except the Jelly beans or Robin Eggs, I am the only one in my family that like coconut and I really don't need to be wearing 4 dozen coconut macaroons on my hips (I have already saved space for the Easter Peeps nest project this year). This may be something for next year.

Items needed:

• 16 ounces shredded coconut


• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• Jelly beans or candy Robin Eggs

"Mix first three ingredients together. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto generously greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 8 minutes.

Cool coconut macaroons slightly; remove to rack.

Once cooled, place candy Robin Eggs or jelly beans on top of coconut “nests.”

Makes about 4 dozen coconut macaroons."

Bunny "Carrot" for Easter Basket***ACCOMPLISHED***

I saw this cute ideat at "No Fuss Fabulous" and I love the idea of having something besides something sugar infested for Easter and my son loves Goldfish crackers.

They use a Wilton disposible frosting bag and ric-rac, which are too pricy for me. I think I will see about sewing little wedges (something that is small enough to fit into a Easter Egg)in plastic bags and round up some green scraps of fabric to tie around for the carrot toppers.

http://www.nofussfabulous.com/?p=4587

***ACCOMPLISHED***

Mine turned out different than I had planned - I ended up using a quart size Ziplock bag, as that is what I had on hand, and Cheez-Its Twisters because they were on sale and a better deal than the Goldfish crackers. Instead of fabric or ribbon, I used green crepe paper as I spotted it in the bathroom closet (what it was doing in there, I have no idea).

http://craftsandcreationswithkathy.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-carrots.html

BOOTS

An amazing user over at Craftster that makes cool boots sent me a disc on how to make them that I am dying to check out and start on once things get back to normal around here.

Vintage Lace Flowers

http://missiekrissie.blogspot.com/2009/04/tutorial-how-to-make-vintage-lace.html

There is an easy to follow tutorial over at the above blog on how to make Vintage Lace Flowers. These would look great on a headband or hair clip or even to embellish a T-Shirt.

Alien Abduction Lamp ***ACCOMPLISHED***

Heather at Dollar Store Crafts made this for Life With Lindsey's $5 Dollar Store Challenge - it is awesome! I have got to make of these!

http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2009/03/alien-lamp/comment-page-1/#comment-1241

Even with all the running we had to do today, I did make a stop at Dollar Store Plus to scout out potential parts for this project. They had a $1 bowl that would work for the bottom, but didn't find any acrylic glasses that would work or touch lights. There was a set of plastic farm animals for $1 but I just was not loving the cow in the set - too generic and expressionless. It then hit me that for mine, I am going to make a version of Shaun The Sheep for my lamp when I make it.

There were some syrofoam bowls at Marv that we got at an auction before Kyle was born, but they are pretty flimsy and don't hold paint well, so going to scrap that idea. I do have Christmas bowl on got on clearance for a quarter, but as we use it all the time not really wanting to sacrifice it for craft purposes.

I did have a touch light but not sure where it disappered to. I think the little mini ones that come in a pack of 2 for $1 at Dollar tree might work better.

Really don't have the money to invest in this right now, so this is going to go on the back burner for now, but I will be on the lookout for parts - might get lucky at a garage sale and pick up things for cheaper.

***ACCOMPLISHED***