Cooking & Crafting Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken & Current Project

 

Hello my Friends!

Happy Friday Eve and officially September. Yay! 

Kids are heading back to school, the nights are cooler, and football starts next week. I can just feel the anticipation of the Fall season ahead. 🍎🍁

If you saw my title, then you see that I thought I'd throw in some crafting on these Thursday posts with you. I always tend to be working on something. So let's begin with the crafting today, shall we? 

I have done lots of cross stitch things through the years...but I never tried my hand at embroidery. I thought it was time I taught myself so, I'm using some friends of mine as guinea pigs. 😂 I found a couple of cute Fall/Halloween kits (they both have Autumn birthdays) and I'm learning as I work on them for gifts. I've just begun on one of them and here it is. I will keep you updated on the progress I make (hopefully). Lol 

Speaking of Halloween, I caught this cute photo of Bubbs this morning. He is such a perfect Halloween kitty, isn't he?? :) 

And I'm SO excited to share this gorgeous gift we recently received in time for our 2nd wedding anniversary. My dear friend Alison made this for us. She lives with her sweet family in England. We met through blogging many years ago and started corresponding here. And then we started sharing letters and packages, and also lots of chatting and sharing photos on messenger too. We share a lot in common as she's about my age, has always been active in Mom life, and she also volunteers in hospice. She has a daughter about Annie's age and for several years they were pen pals too! I treasure Alison and her friendship so much. Matt & I were both touched (and I was so moved 😢) by this sweet and very thoughtful gift that must have taken her hours! We plan to hang it in our bedroom. It matches our wall color in there perfectly! And those sunflowers are stunning aren't they? Just like our wedding day. 🌻💛

I just love this blogland space for that very reason. To feel such a friendship with someone I've never even met in person. I just think it's something so special about blogging. 💗

And I think I may have shared a bit about this - it's a little mixed media piece I made and framed (I used the little black frame you see the edge of at the top). I forgot to take a completed pic of it all put together. But I sent this and a card I painted to a special Aunt for her birthday. That was my most recent completed craft. 

And I have another idea for a little decoration with a cute halloween jack-o-lantern pin I recently found at an antique store. So stay tuned and I will share that on another Thursday. 🎃

Ok, on to the cooking portion now which includes the honey garlic chicken I mentioned earlier in the week. This was such an easy recipe and was so tasty! I found it on social media and I included the person's name in the photo of the recipe below. First I put some boneless skinless chicken thighs in the bottom of the greased slow cooker. Then I made the sauce and put it on top and let it cook. Then towards the end of cooking time, I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. We had it with jasmine rice and some green beans from the garden and some broccoli. For the veggies - I just blanched them and then sauteed them in a little oil and with some garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and tiny bit of sesame oil. I then topped them with sesame seeds. 

we had a little sprinkle of peanuts on top for crunch too

The next day I thought it would be fun to make some crispy rice cups for our lunch (Matt works from home) and to have some of the leftover chicken on top of them. So I took the leftover rice and packed it in a sprayed muffin tin and baked them at 400* until they were crispy. About 15 minutes but keep an eye on them. I had jasmine rice which doesn't stick as well as regular rice so I actually added some cheese as a binder. But regular leftover white rice should stick just fine. Just push into the bottom and up the sides of the muffin tin wells.

 Then we put the reheated chicken on top along with some sriracha mayo and chili crunch (our favorite toppings!) They were so tasty and Matt said he loved the crispy rice addition to the leftovers.  

As you can see, I like to experiment and try different things. It's really become a hobby for me to have fun in the kitchen. Do you like to play in the kitchen too? And do you have any crafty projects in the works?? Curious minds want to know 😉

Oh, and last night I made a sheet pan chicken fried rice that was a stellar recipe! We have been on an Asian food kick here as you can see. I will share that recipe soon too! 

If you try - enjoy! 

xoxo

Cooking Thursday: Turkey Noodle Soup (& a few Holiday Treat Gift Ideas)

 

Hello my dear and wonderful Friends!

Yay for almost the weekend ahead to get more Christmas preparations done. I've been doing some baking and making this week. I've got candles glowing in the kitchen as I work and it looks snowy and lovely outside.  I've been working on some things to freeze and some for gifts to give soon. I'll share more about some holiday ideas in a minute. 

But first I thought I would share the recipe for how I make my yearly turkey noodle soup after Thanksgiving. It's always so comforting and yummy and a great side to a perfect leftover turkey sandwich! 😋

I had shared how I make a homemade turkey stock or bone broth several days before Thanksgiving. You can read more about that from an old post here. And I use that stock to make my soup. I didn't think to take a pic of the soup but here is the recipe I created for how I make it. 

TURKEY NOODLE SOUP

Ingredients:

Whatever leftover chopped turkey you'd like to throw in(dark meat is good here)

1/2 onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

splash of olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

 2 Tbsp flour 

6 c. turkey stock

salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp cooking sherry

1/2 c. heavy cream 

1-2 c. noodles of choice (I use wide Amish noodles)

Directions:

In a large pot saute the onion, carrots and onion in the butter and a splash of olive oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir another minute. Add the flour and cook it out stirring continuously another few minutes. Then pour in the stock and bring to light boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the noodles and cook according to time on package directions. When only a few minutes left on the time for the noodles add your chopped turkey. When noodles are done turn to low (or remove from heat if really hot). Stir in sherry and cream and cook a few minutes more until they are blended and warm with soup. Enjoy!

I also thought I'd share some of the treats I'm making as various gifts (or together in gift baskets) for friends and family. I've been making a few other things I'll share another time including mini loaves of cranberry orange bread, fudge, and potpourri simmer pots with dried fruit. But today I thought I'd share sugared pecans (I like to make and put in festive tins) and oyster ranch crackers. I can attest to both as being very tasty and enjoyed by those who have tried them.

 

SUGARED PECANS

I have been making these sugared pecans for many years and they are based on a recipe I found in an old Mary Engelbreit magazine from many years ago. I found a recipe here. But I make them with only 1/4 c. of butter and 3&1/2 to 4 c. of pecans. I like the texture better. I find neat old tins in antique or thrift stores or find deals on new ones and use them to give these as gifts. They stay good for a few weeks if sealed well. I often put them in a sealed baggie and then wrap that in pretty tissue paper before putting in a tissue lined tin. 

RANCH OYSTER CRACKERS

And how you can you go wrong by taking melted butter and adding ranch seasoning and yummy herbs and seasonings. Tossing oyster crackers in it and baking them. They're very addicting - you've been warned! I use Pioneer Woman's recipe here. These could be put in festive little baggies and put in a gift bag, or even cute little jars for gift giving. 

 

Merry Christmas season to you and I hope your kitchen stays cozy and  is filled with the wonderful aromas of love baking away. 

 I wish for you days filled with peace and joy. 

xoxo

Vintage Charm Party: Grandma Scrapbook Made With Love

 Happy Wednesday Friends! And welcome to this month of sunshine, flowers and all the promise of summer to come. I hope you're already sipping some lemonade or sweet tea and easing into the lazy days mindset. 

In getting ready for summer's goodness Ruby got her haircut and looked so cute with her little bumblebees. But going to the salon takes a lot out of a girl...so a nap immediately followed. Pretty adorable isn't she?

And speaking of adorable and summer...I need to get the rest of my flower pots planted so I can use this new sleepy fairy and gate I found when out treasure hunting. Any excuse to dig in the dirt some more works for me. It's definitely a favorite past time!

But on to the main reason I'm posting today and that is to share this sweet album I just finished for my Bestie Mrs. C. She became a grandma for the first time recently with her granddaughter, Thea. So I wanted to make a little something special for her with such a big milestone. 

She loves paper ephemera kinds of things too and so I thought how about going old school and making her a scrapbooked brag book. I know everything is on our phone nowadays. But I thought how lovely it might be to have a small decorated album that can be a keepsake too. It's something where she can easily slide new photos in and out of the page's protective sleeves as Thea grows and changes. And then once she has favorites she can stick those baby photos in to keep and it will be a keepsake. 

This is the cover and the spine with sweet little gold flowers on them:

I found a pack of sweet floral papers and used them, along with some precious baby related stickers. Here are pages if you'd like to see them... along with some sweet details highlighted bigger for you. The first page will have a little white box like the one I edited on the pic to give you an idea. It will include Thea's name, birthdate and weight & size. That's the last detail I need to do. I had a few pics on my phone Mrs. C sent me, so I printed them up with my Canon mini printer and stuck them on for her.

Then for the final page I put this cute Mary Engelbreit print on it with a few more stickers. 

All of our schedules have been so busy, but Mrs C. and I are getting together for lunch soon and I'll surprise her with it. There is talk that I may get to see and snuggle up sweet Thea myself soon! Ooohh I can't wait 😍 The next best thing to having my own grandbaby one day💗

Even though scrapbooks can be considered vintage in today's world - I still love holding tangible memories and creating something out of my imagination in that way. So today I thought I'd share this vintage charm with the Vintage Charm Party held by the lovely blogs My Thrift Store Addiction  and Our Hopeful Home.

Flower Power

 

Hello lovely Friends!

Are flowers a love language for you? 🌸

They sure are for me - in any form. 😍

Giving bouquets, receiving bouquets, picking wildflowers, digging in the dirt and planting pots, using flower paper ephemera in scrapbooking & projects, and having things decorated with flowers ...ie:  iphone case, antique pottery in my home, blankets - well you get the idea. 

So today I thought I'd share some recent flower moments in my northwoods world :) 

But first I need to share this adorable moment from an absolute joy in my life: my baby Girl turned 19. And she chose DQ ice cream cake this year. And it was so good. 😋

Now back to flowers. I weeded out all my lilies the other day. Always a taxing project. I get down on all 4's with a kneeler pad and pull out all the old growth from last year. You can see the brown straw-like pile in the background. It's such satisfying work when it's all done! 

Also, our rhubarb we planted last year is coming up. And the peonies too (but I forgot to grab a pic of that)

I've very slowly begun to accumulate flowers - but haven't gotten out my pots yet. Matt was so sweet to get me my hanging baskets for the front and back. (the front of the house ones I put in big pots by the door) 

It's supposed to be colder and rain in the days ahead. So I think I'll wait to grab more plants - but I did acquire a strawberry plant, some lemon balm, lemon thyme, and oregano. Plus, sweet Jill got me a pansy for Mother's Day. Next up will be getting the pots out of the garage and shed and plan out what kinds of flowers I'll want to get this year, and where I'd like to plant them. That's a big part of Spring fun along with actually digging in the dirt! Also, the daffodils finally bloomed so I made a sweet bouquet of them along with the lemon balm. 

Some of our solar lanterns are out now and I recently grabbed this sweet sunflower one. And the dear fairy folk have started to show up now that it's back to gardening season...so we'll have to wait and see where they end up. 

One of the gifts from my son this year was this sweet shortbread mold and I just LOVE it!! I can't wait to bake with it. 

And for my Mom and her "basket of sunshine" Mother's Day gift I put together - I had made this little framed decoration with an antique flower pin. I used a scrapbook paper background, some felt, hot glue and a pretty frame. She LOVED it which is more of that love language stuff I was talking about. 💛

Do you garden? Love flowers? What's blooming around you right now? 

🌱💚🌸