homemade wreath.

As I was putting up all my Christmas decorations, I realized I had lots of extra ornaments. These ornaments did not match my color scheme, but I was too cheap to just throw them away. So I....

put them to good use! I picked up a styrofoam wreath at Wal-Mart for $4.50, grabbed my hot glue gun, box or ornaments and hunkered down in a corner with an outlet. It was messy, but easy. As always it was great to just get away from my hectic day and craft.

yummy greens.

I am continuously trying to add green veggies to my diet and I recently found this wonderful recipe that I would like to share with everyone. It's simple and tasty!

What you need:

Broccoli Florets
Kosher Salt
Fresh Lemon
Black Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat over to 350

1. I use frozen broccoli that you steam, but fresh broccoli is recommended. Just make sure its completely dry.

2. Salt the all the broccoli and then I love pepper so I do almost equal pepper. Then cover with parmesan cheese

3. Lastly cook the broccoli for 20 or so minutes and then add the lemon zest!

It's a wonderful side item and I put the leftovers in a zip lock bag and eat as a snack.


Enjoy!

mini meatloafs

Because everything is better when it is in a muffin tin, especially a mini muffin tin!

I get overwhelmed with excitement any chance I get to make something in my mini muffin tins. Last night was great because I was able to try my new meatloaf recipe{which i tweaked} and make them in muffin tins and mini muffin tins. Apparently men don't appreciate mini muffin tins too much, because Brett wanted his just regular size.

The recipe was a great starter recipe, because it didn't have a million ingredients and I actually knew what all the ingredients were.

Here is what you need:

1 1/2lb. of ground beef{I think ground turkey would be phenomenal}
1/2 finely chopped onion
1 sleeve of saltines finely crushed
2 1/2 tablespoons of mustard
1 1/2 of ketchup
1 tablespoon Oregano
S&P to season the beef

Preheat oven to 350

1. Take onions, oregano and a lil' olive oil and saute' them until soft. If you like garlic, I would also add some garlic to this mixture.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure to add onion mixture.

3.Spray muffin tins { mini muffin tins} and add mixture. Cook for 30-35 minutes. If you are using the mini tins then cook for 25-30.

I didn't have any potatoes, but if you do whip up some mashed potatoes and put them on top. I can't wait to try this, although I will probably do mashed cauliflower for a healthier option!

Enjoy!

unexpected joy.

Cooking. My new love.

{Fried Okra}

{Homemade crab cakes & spinach salad}

{boil orange peels&cinnamon... smells amazing}

  

{Homemade Coconut Chicken Curry...yum, yum, yum}

{Homemade mac&cheese}

{My brownies}

{Buttermilk biscuits, brown sugar, cinnamon and syrup.... this is no joke}

{I improvised with whole wheat rotini, because used all my elbow macs...  still wonderful}

{Relaxing after my "adventurous" black friday... haha}

I have recently been motivated to cook. Although I am still learning my way around the kitchen, I am having the time of my life. As a child I would always stand in the kitchen and help Ann, my step mom, cook. I would ask a million questions{presumably drove her nuts}and just be in awe of her ability to cook. She always told me to just practice and I would learn.

I can't say I believed her at the time{ I'm the kinda of girl that has to find out on her own and rarely believes what I am told.... and yes I am working on this}, but she was right. It's been a slow process, but well worth it. I started by baking, but now I have found more excitement in experimenting and trying new dishes that I always thought were so out of reach, such as chicken curry.