MakingMine
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First 30 Days: My P90X Journey
I started my 3rd attempt of P90X on March 29th, 2012 (read here about my last attempts).
30 days into it, I already... -
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Summer Lime Salad
(I don’t care if it’s not summer yet, this salad tastes like it!)
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 1 cup shelled edamame
- 1 1/2 cups...
This is another DIY Christmas gift that I completed. I wanted to find a creative way to give gift cards, so I put together gift cards as 4 different seasonal surprises (date night, shopping spree, etc), placed them in fun envelopes corresponding to each season, and packaged it all together with a 2012 calendar.
I used scrapbook paper to make the envelopes. Here’s how it went down….
I then wrote out labels to place on the front of the envelopes, filled them with the gift cards, and placed them throughout the calendar! Here’s the finished package…
The world through a toddler’s eyes- this Christmas tree is just spectacular
I saw a cute idea on Pinterest for framing seasonal words and placing them around the house. I just happened to have 3 matching frames that had never quite made it up on my walls anywhere, so I decided to give it a go. I chose the phrase “Merry and Bright” and used Picnik to create the words because I knew of a few fun fonts on the site that I really liked. I just printed them out, placed them in the frames, and ended up with this….
Simple and cute. But not quite enough (notice that it’s been denoted as a “before”). I decided that I needed to add a pop of color to the display and brainstormed a fun way to achieve this…
Flannel! That’s right. I decided to cover the boring white mats with flannel to incorporate some holiday warmth. This was a Joanna’s own process that would probably make any serious crafter cringe (Scotch tape was involved), but it worked surprisingly well! See below for the steps:
Annnnnnnnnnnnd…….. here’s the final result! I love it! And it goes great with the color scheme of our basement!
Thanksgiving hadn’t even passed and J and I were busy getting our home ready for the Christmas holiday. Decorating our one bedroom apartment last year didn’t provide nearly enough room to deck out for Christmas. This year we have not 1 but 2 trees and lights trimming the outside of our house. I’m not 100% done, but I still have a couple of weeks before the Creighton alumni party we’re hosting later this month.
Our work in progress
Our finished work!
Basement Christmas tree with the first presents!
J and I hosted our 1st Thanksgiving last week. My parents drove in from Iowa on Wednesday evening, so we got cook, shop, and eat, eat, eat together for the whole weekend!
As far as the menu was concerned, I stuck with a few traditional favorites, swapped out some old recipes for healthier alternatives, and even found some new dishes to give a try! Here’s the rundown….
Autumn Salad with Pears and Gorgonzola: This was a brand new recipe that ended up being SO good! Very fresh and crisp with great fall flavors! Find the recipe here!
Red Hot Applesauce Salad: This salad appears at nearly every family gathering at the Olson house. It’s easy to prepare and is a great option to use in place of cranberries for picky eaters. (recipe at the end of this post)
Stuffing: I used a Chicken Sausage and Herb Stuffing recipe from SkinnyTaste. I opted for turkey sausage instead of chicken. Everyone really liked this dish - definitely a keeper!
Roasted Parmesan Green Beans: Found this side on SkinnyTaste. Super easy and really good! Definitely prefer it to the standard green bean casserole!
Corn Casserole: I found a lightened-up version of one of our favorites. It uses Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. I actually think this version is even better! I can thank SkinnyTaste for this gem as well (yes, there is a pattern here)!
Caramel Apple Pie: This is my all-time favorite apple pie recipe. It’s absolutely amazing served warm with a side of vanilla ice cream! (recipe at the end of this post)
All that was left was gravy and some crescent rolls. My mom has a great recipe for butter horns, I’m definitely going to need to get that from her before I host another holiday meal!
The great thing about this menu was how much of it I could prepare ahead of time. I had the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes all ready to go on Wednesday. All that was left was to pop them in the oven before lunch!
How did your Thanksgiving go? Try any yummy new dishes?
And as promised, recipes……
Red Hot Applesauce Salad
2C water
1/2 C cinnamon red hot candies
1 - 6oz pkg cherry jello
2 C applesauce
Bring water to a boil. Dissolve red hots in boiling water. Mix in and dissolve jello. Transfer to a medium bowl. Mix in applesauce. Chill for 4 hours or overnight.
Caramel Apple Pie
Prepare a pie crust and place in bottom of pan
1 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1 tsp cinnamon
6 C peeled and cut up apples
Filling: In a large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 C flour and cinnamon. Add apples and toss to coat. Place in unbaked crust.
Combine 1/2 C caramel apple dip (Marzetti’s) with 2 Tbsp milk. Drizzle over apples. Save some to drizzle over top of pie.
Topping: In mixing bowl, combine 1 C flour and 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/2 C cut butter. Cut in butter until course crumble. Sprinkle over apples.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pan on baking sheet. Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake 30 minutes until golden, remove foil and bake 30 more minutes.
Cool, drizzle remaining dip mixture over top of pie. Cool on wire rack.
