5 Minute DIY Candlestick Holders

This project was so ridiculously easy, that I almost feel silly even bothering to write about it. But, I figured I'm not the only one who likes quick and easy so I might as well share.

Problem: I somehow ended up with some fun taper candles but no candlestick holders for a taper candle. 

Solution: I scrounged two small scraps of 1x4 from the shop, drilled a 3/4 inch hole and in less then five minutes I had two simple, but perfectly functional candlestick holders for our table. 

Maybe someday I will even paint them...or maybe not.

Materials needed: 2 small scraps of 1x4 (mine are triangles with roughly 3.5 inch sides)

                             Drill

                             3/4 inch bit (I used a hole saw bit)

Find the center on your wood scrap for the most stability. Drill your hole approximately 3/4 of the way through your wood. Insert candle. Stand back and enjoy your creation!

Quick, easy and free. My favorite kind of project!

Honey BBQ Meatloaf with a Twist

I love the taste of meatloaf. I don't love that it takes a whole pound of meat and in our house we don't usually get even two meals out of it. My solution? Sneak in some lentils for to double the volume and protein at a fraction of the cost. I tried finding an existing recipe for what I had in mind, but nothing quite matched. So I used my go-to meatloaf recipe as a base and doubled it.  But here is the twist, I only added one pound of ground beef and swapped out the second pound for lentils. 
         It turned out to be a win-win. We get twice as many meals with the same amount of meat and after six years of marriage I finally have a lentil recipe that is hubby approved! (In other words, the flavor of the lentils is completely undetectable. Honest. It would not be hubby-approved if it you could still taste them!)

Honey BBQ Meatloaf with a Twist

• 2 tsp beef bouillon granules
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2/3 cup honey barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup uncooked lentils
• ketchup

In a small saucepan cook lentils in 2 cups of water for 20-30 minutes until tender (more instructions here).

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed. Spread into two loaf pans or a 9x9 casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for approx. 1 hour. Top with ketchup if desired and bake for 5-10 minutes more.

Chicken Alfredo Rice (a.k.a. We're out of groceries!)

This little recipe came from a need for a quick easy dinner and not a lot of groceries in the house! We were pleasantly surprised with the results, though.

Chicken Alfredo Rice

2 cups uncooked brown rice

2 cups milk, divided

2 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)

1 tbsp butter

2 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese

1 tsp salt

1-2 chicken breasts, diced

2 tbsp flour

1 c. shredded parm. cheese

1  (28oz) can diced tomatoes

Cook brown rice in 4 cups water. 

In a separate pan saute garlic in butter add chicken and cook through. Add cream cheese and flour to make a roux of sorts. Add milk and stir till thicken. Add tomatoes (slightly drained). Cook until heated through. Serve over brown rice and dinner is on the table.

(If your rice is already cooked then it will only take a matter of minutes to pull it all together!)

Meal Plan - Nov 25

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! As you might suspect this week's plan seems to have ended up with a lot of turkey recipes. My freezer stash of baked goods and snacks for the hubby's lunches also seems to have pretty well disappeared so I'm hoping to get in some baking this week sometime. With out further ado...

Dinners:

Turkey a la King (I didn't get to this recipe last week, but I still want to try it)

Buffalo Chicken Chili (or turkey in this case) and homemade bread

Grandma's Chicken Soup and leftover bread

Burgers and Perfect Crispy Oven Fries

Other:

Chewy Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars

Homemade Yogurt (no fancy equipment needed!)

Greek Yogurt Blueberry Banana Bread 

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Peach French Toast Bake - I've started making a big breakfast casserole at the beginning of the week and it's been working out great for Travis to get an easy hot breakfast before work each morning with very minimal effort! 

Any suggestions for yummy breakfast casserole recipes? I'd love some new ideas to add some more variety!

Happy Cooking!

Wholesome Almond White Chocolate Cookies

Today I have a little something to give your body a break from all the rich, wonderful holiday food this week if it needs it. I wanted to make a cookie that would satisfy my sweet tooth, but still provide my body with some nutrition. So I came up with these Wholesome Almond White Chocolate Cookies. I used what I had on hand, but I think dark chocolate would be great too or dried fruit like cranberries or raisins to make them even healthier. The batter isn't super sweet, but I think with the white chips it's a perfect balance. Also, the texture of the cookies is more of a cakish/muffinish cookie than a dense chewy cookie. If that strikes your fancy then here's your recipe.

Wholesome Almond White Chocolate Cookies

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 mashed bananas

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups whole wheat baking flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

In a large bowl mix butter, bananas and brown sugar until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add but do not mix yet, oats, whole wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Now mix them all in together (I find that this method prevents the need for dirtying two bowls but has the same effect). Add in almonds and chocolate chips. 

Drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. 

So tell me, what's your preference for cookie textures cakey or chewy?

Upcycled Onesie Project

You will quickly realize that 99% of my DIY projects come from trying to take what I've got and turn it into what I need (or just want!). Today's need: cloth diaper and EC friendly outfits.

We are cloth diapering Miss T and also starting to work on Elimination Communication neither of which are very conducive to the onesies that a part of nearly all baby outfits. The bulk of the cloth diaper means extra length is required to fit over them and with EC quick, easy diaper access is crucial. So, I decided it was time to whip out the scissors and the sewing machine and start making alterations to some of Miss T's onesies.

I used this tutorial from Make It and Love It to turn three onesies into three adorable dresses perfect for cloth diaper and EC use. It was so quick and easy (well, except for the first one which I had to re-do three times, but that was totally operator error, not poor instructions!) and I love the way they turned out! No fancy sewing required.

Next step is to finish her leggings to make sure she is nice and warm this winter. I'll be back with those once they are done... 

Any other suggestions out there for easy EC clothing or upcycled onesie projects?

Cooking Pumpkin the Lazy Way

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I may have discovered the easiest way possible to have a big stash of pumpkin puree in your freezer for winter and it's so cheap, too! Want to hear it? Stab some slits into a whole pumpkin with a large knife (sounds dangerous, but really it felt much safer than trying to cut the thing in half!). If you don't feel like you got good slits made you can always go back and make some more once it has cooked a little and softened, but you do want to make sure there is a way for the steam to escape to you don't end up with an exploded pumpkin in your oven!

Place pumpkin in the oven whole. (You may want to put a cookie sheet under it to catch drips)

Cook for about 3 hours at 350 or until the shell is getting well browned and pumpkin is fairly easy to puncture. Let it cool.

Split it open and scoop out the seeds and guts. This was my favorite part. It was so easy, there was no fighting with stringy pumpkin guts trying to convince them to let go. Nope, they just slid right out, easy peasy.

Now your pumpkin is ready to be scooped out and turned into what every tasty treats you have in store for it. Or, divide it up into quart size freezer bags and freeze for future use. (I find that 2 cups per bag is a convenient amount for cooking with).

So that, that. A $2 pumpkin, about 15 minutes of hands-on time and 16 cups of pumpkin to stash in the freezer.  Frugal and easy, it's a hard combination to beat!



So far I have used this method with Spaghetti Squash as well and it worked wonderful. If you try another type of squash let me know how it turns out!