Yum Yum: Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes and I have a love hate relationship.  I love to eat them but hate making them.  It is one of those dishes that I haven't seemed to master and mess up more often than not. I think it is because we didn't eat a lot of potatoes growing up.  I may have been in college the first time that I had mashed potatoes.  I like my mashed potatoes chunky.  These are delish!!

• 2 lb peeled and diced potatoes (I don't peel them)
• 1/2 to 1 head garlic cloves, peeled and mashed
• 4 tbsp butter
•  1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream or milk

1. Put potatoes in heavy pan with water to cover and bring to boil with lid on.  Cook until soft
2. Drain potatoes and set aside.
3. Return empty pan to heat and add butter
4. Bring cream to boil in separate pan.
5. Mash potatoes
6. Beet in butter and hot cream to desired texture
7. add garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Headband Holder

Google headband holder and you will get a million posts on different ones.  I decided to go the easy route for my girl's headbands. 

Supplies:

• fabric
• batting
• ribbon
• oatmeal can
• hot glue
• felt

I cleaned out an empty oatmeal can and glued some batting around it.  I then wrapped it in fabric and glued it down. For the inside, I just glued some ribbon to make it look smooth.

 At the bottom I glued a felt circle on it to finish it off.

 

And I glued a ribbon down the side where the fabric connected.  Took about 10 minutes and I think it turned out really well.  A great size for headbands and we can put bows or beenie hats inside of it.

 

 

Yum Yum: Mom's Bread Stuffing

I came from a family where we eat white bread stuffing and my husband grew up on cornbread stuffing.  So I hate his stuffing and he hates mine. Since we spend every Thanksgiving with his family, I really miss my mom's recipe.

• 4 cups coarse bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup finely minced onions
• 1/2 cup chopped celery (stalk and leaves)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp poultry seasoning

1. Melt butter, add onion and cook till yellow
2. Stir in rest of ingredients except bread crumbs and cook for 2 minutes
3. Turn into deep bowl all ingredients
4. Put in pan or bird and cook

**for dry stuffing, add 2 TBS water
**for moist stuffing, add 3-4 TBS water

Random: Child with an iPhone

Here is what happens when I give my kids the iphone in the store so they can play games.

 

They obviously know how to get to the camera now.   Can anyone guess what store we were at with the red shopping carts?

Yum Yum: Pepper Salad

My dear friend gave me her recipe after we had this at her house and fell in love with it.  So simple, refreshing, and good.

• 4 peppers - seeded and diced (I used different colors to make it pretty)
• 3-4 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 1 TBS mint
• 1 mozzarella ball - diced
• 3-4 TBS olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix and allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Bubblegum Necklaces

I love the bubblegum necklaces for kids.  I saw quite a few on etsy and tutorials on blogs on how to do it.  Toys R' Us does have a huge container of gumballs that I bought.  I drilled holes in them with a hand drill.  I used the 5/32 bit which was so much larger than I thought I was going to use but I wanted to be able to put the ribbon through it instead of just a string.   I taped up the end of the grosgrain ribbon with packing tape and twisted it really tight.  That way it would go through the gumballs.  I put a knot in between each gumball. I made one below for myself that is white and red with a grey ribbon.  I love it.

I did spray paint them with a clear coat of paint.  I wasn't sure what would happen when you actually where them next to your skin.  I caught one of my daughters having it in your mouth and it did start to crack.  I can't imagine it tasting good after the spray paint on it.

Yum Yum: Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad

This is such a refreshing and yummy side and very easy to make.

• 4 tomatoes, cut in 1/8 (I typically chop)
• 1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (also good with red onion)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder
• Vinegar to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve cold.

Pottery Barn Knock-Off Silver Alphabet Letters

I saw this blog post and knew I would do it.  Who doesn't love simple, cheap, and easy crafts that end up looking so good.  I didn't end up doing the whole alphabet, just enough letters to spell our names.  I have already had so many people comment on how much people like them.  I had ordered fridge letters for what I was doing for the girls first day of school pictures so already had them on hand.

I did prime them as suggested and then spray painted them silver.  So cute and easy.

Yum Yum: Green Bean Bake

As all mother's know, getting kids to eat their vegetables is sometimes challenging. My girls love green bean casserole so why not make it on a regular basis and not just for Thanksgiving. Here is the recipe that I started using but now I just do it by memory and look. I typically don't add the entire can of soup because I don't use multiple cans of green beans to make it for just one night. I also add less french fried onions. Even though they are the best part, they are overly nutritious for a week night meal.



picture from frenchs.com

 http://www.campbellskitchen.com/Recipes/RecipeDetails.aspx?recipeId=24099
Classic Green Bean Casserole
What You'll Need

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

How to Make It

• Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.                                                   
• Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
• Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown