picture frame tray

11x14 Frame 

cut beadboard to the back size of frame

cuff handles

(these were things that were lying around from previous projects)

put them all together.....

 plus a little glaze over entire tray and in minutes you have yourself a TRAY!

Our Christmas eve dinner!

This is our traditional Christmas eve dinner
Orange Glazed Salmon Salad
this will take approximately 30 minutes

Baked Salmon (bake at 350 20-25 min) with a bit of butter and lemon pepper

Grilled Pineapple (make sure you get nice grill marks)

Fresh Spinach

tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

bleu cheese crumbles with craisins

(and usually I would put a fan of avacadoes but they were too hard)

Glaze:( to taste)

pineapple juice 

orange juice

honey 

Ginger

soy sauce

brown sugar

corn starch (to thicken)

Crunchy chocolate covered caramel popcorn!

Here is my sisters recipe of caramel popcorn, I just tweeked it a bit!

3/4 C popcorn unpopped

1 cube butter

1C brown sugar

1/4 C Carro syrup

a few dashes of salt

sweet caramel sprinkles (pampered chef) (optional)

large brown paper bag

pop the popcorn and put in bag

mix ingredients in a microwaveable bowl

microwave 1 1/2 min..stir

repeat 2 min...stir

add 1 tsp baking soda...stir

pour over the popped popcorn

stir with wooden spoon

put entire bag into microwave 2 mins

take out....shake 

pour over two large strips of wax paper or foil on counter

cools in minutes..

drizzle melted chocolate over top

(Nestles semi sweet)

place in fridge for 15 minutes

I was inspired

I saw this idea on pinterest and I loved it, here is my version...Hot Chocolate Bar, hope you like it!

chocolate popcorn mix

Here is a easy treat for fall, to share with neighbors and friends

Air popped popcorn

pretzels

honey roasted peanuts

semi sweet chocolate chips 

white chocolate chips

 finished product

Thai lettuce wraps with peanut sauce

Here is a recipe that is a little lower in fat and very yummy!

Thai Lettuce Wraps

1/2 small onion diced
1/2 red pepper, minced
1 carrot, shredded
2/3 cup bean sprouts
4-5 washed whole bibb lettuce leaves (butter lettuce)
handful of dry roasted peanuts
Thai Peanut Sauce

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup  peanut butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 t. sugar
2 T. lime juice
1/2 t. hot chili oil or hot sauce
2 t. low sodium  soy sauce
1 T. minced cilantro  
1/4 tsp Ginger
2 T. warm water
I put this on stove and brought it to a boil
then added a little starch to thicken then set it aside to cool and serve

 I made brown rice with this as a side and also a small cup of fruit with fat free cool whip on top

Mexican Meatball soup

some things are meant to be repeated and this is definitely one, I posted this last year and since it is the start of soup season and this is a favorite of my family, here it goes!

Mother Theresa's Albondigas Soup

My kind of comfort food!

This is one of my favorite soups ever!!!

this will feed easily 10-15 people

3lbs hamburger (lean)

1 onion 

3/4 of a  bunch of fresh Cilantro

2 bay leaves

2 eggs

2 hand fulls of rice

2 green zucchini's

1 yellow squash

1 lrg can Hominy (drained)

4 carrots

1 can corn (drained)

1 lrg can whole tomatoes (diced)

5 beef bouillon cubes

about 6-8 cups water

1 jalapeño devained and seeded

2 lrg potatoes diced

2 cloves of Garlic

in large bowl mix your meat with eggs,rice, 1/2 yellow squash &1 zucchini minced very small and 1/4 onion.

season meat with cumin,parsley,oregano,garlic salt, thyme, rosemary and salt and pepper

in the pot of water put tomatoes undrained, onions chunked

beef boullion ,hominy and corn.

then start making your meatballs and drop each one in the water. once all your meat balls are all in the pot then cut up and add the rest. bring it all to a boil and then back down to med/low for at least a good 1 -2 hours. serve with a slice of lime and good white corn tortillas(warmed)

Yummy!