Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

I am all about finding convenient ways to cook. With making over 10 dishes and desserts for friends giving, this slow cooker mashed potatoes were a life saver! Delicious too! Original recipe found at http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2014/11/slow-cooker-buttery-garlic-herb-mashed-potatoes.html

Ingredients:

2 pounds red potatoes, washed, halved.

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tbsp minced garlic 

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (or 2 tbsp dried parsley flakes)

1/2 tsp dried or fresh basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

Place your potatoes in a large greased crock pot. Leave on high for 2-3 hours or low for 5-6. I put mine on low and left them in there all day while I cooked the rest of the food! Once the potatoes are fork tender, blend with a hand blender or a potato masher. Blend in remaining ingredients. Keep warm until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Ambrosia Salad

This is the perfect side for any holiday meal rather it's Thanksgiving or 4th of July. You can mix it up with adding your favorite fruits and nuts to really make it special too. I found the original recipe on http://www.momontimeout.com/2015/08/ambrosia-salad-recipe/ It is super light and fluffy! It went great with our Friendsgiving this year!

Ingredients:

8 oz tub of Cool Whip

1/2 cup sour cream

11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained

20 oz can crushed pineapples, drained

10 oz jar maraschino cherries, halved, patted dry

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

2 cups mini marshmallows

3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews) - optional

* we added 1/2 cup chopped up strawberries

Directions:

Mix sour cream and cool whip together in a bowl. Fold in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Christmas Decorating on a Budget

 

It's here! The most wonderful time of the year! It is so hard to believe it has already been a year since Johnny and I got engaged, and wow, what a magical year that was! With all the yummy foods and Christmas shopping, there's holiday decorating! Christmas decorating is the most expensive. From the trees, the mantle, there has to feel like there is Christmas in each room! How do you make a house look as wonderful as you feel this December? Easy! The 4 best bargain places! TJ Maxx, thrift store, Dollar General, and Micheals! 

Let's start with office decorating. For our front table, most of our Devore came from Michaels. 

For the wreath, we took a discounted Kirklands wreath and added flowers and berries from Michaels at 60% off with ribbon that was Buy one get one Free and a 40% off coupon. 

For the tree, we used the artificial tree the company has used for years. We found a reassembled box of gold and silver ornaments and paired them with gold acorn ornaments, gold flowers, and gold berries. 

At home, I have 2 trees. The dinning room is a small artificial tree. We used a purple and green color scheme. All ornaments, flowers, and berries came from Micheals and the Dollar General. 

I paired the tree with a mint table cloth and set up the table arrangements with silvers and golds to match. 

For the Living room, we have a deep red and gold theme. We use a real tree in the front room. This year we got ours from Food Lion for $29.99.

The mantel is decorated with left over Mercury glass from our wedding and 2 jars from the Dollar General filled with pine cones from our front yard. 

Our front table is mainly pieces from the thrift store and items I already had around the house. 

We added a few touches to our bathroom as well by replacing the flowers to a darker color for the season. 

 And don't forget about our drinking buddy we added to our bar!

Top off all the decorations with a homemade wreath and you are savy Christmas ready!!

Merry Christmas!! 

Thanksgiving Decor on a Budget

PIt's a new month with new ideas for my Holiday table. Thanksgiving is a harder holiday to decorate for. Before Halloween even begins, it seems Christmas decor is making its way out on to the shelves, skipping our beloved Thanksgiving! One of the tips to decorating for thanksgiving is to find your turkeys early! 

For our our office we did a turkey and fall colors to help fill out the table. All decor items came from TJ Maxx and Michaels.

We reused the red house calander and flowers from our September table. Pumpkins are a good item you can use from your Halloween table too. 

For the house table, 90% of the decorations are from the thrift store and the Dollar store.

The bottom shelf is the same arrangement from the Halloween table. I also made a wreath using leaves and flowers from the Dollar General. 

Happy Turkeyday! 

Halloween decorating on a budget

One of my guilty pleasures when grocery shopping is ready the home and garden magazines. My brain is filled with so many creative ideas, but the wallet is not as filled as my imagination. Over the years I have learned a few tricks of the trade to save shopping. I saved hundreds of dollars decorating each month from shopping at my 3 favorite places: Michaels craft store, the thrift store, and the holy grail: TJ Maxx. 

The decorating obsession started when my boss asked my to decorate the front office desk. With Halloween approaching I decided to go with an October theme. I looked for deals and coupons to get the most with the budget. I found all the Halloween materials at Michaels were 50% off! I gathered a few of my favorite things and strayed decorating. I started the table with a bag of spider webs and fake spiders on the table and finished with arranging the pieces. We had a chalk board sign to mark each day of October. By my desk we put up a witch and a cute little sign. Pair it with some Halloween candy and voila!

For the house decorations, I picked a few of my favorite pieces from Micheals and scored the rest from the thrift store. The candelabra, candles, candle holders, clocks, Mercury glass, and a few other items were all left over wedding decor that we found at different thrift stores. Look for a color scheme you want to master for you holiday table and see if you already have pieces in your home you can use to decorate. Each year you can add a new favorite piece. I always like to shop after a holiday. Michaels lowers their holiday decor to 70% off after the season!

I added a few extra holiday decorations to pull it all together. In the kitchen, I ised the gold glass goblets I already had from TJ Maxx and paired it with a skull from Micheals and place matts and towels I got from Bed Bath and Beyond with my 20% off coupon. 

If you want to get more crafty with the holiday you can always make a Wreath as well. Buy the Halloween materials from Michaels when they are on sale, and use their 40% off coupon for any other items!

Get some pumpkins and mums to out outside and you'll have successfully decorated your house for Halloween all under $100! Don't forget to check out the link on how to make a Halloween Count Down Calander! 

Peanut Butter Banana Mini pies

I was in the mood for a dessert last week but too lazy to run to the store to buy supplies, thus these Peanut Butter Banana Mini Pie bites were born. They are great for any time of  the year and can be made ahead of time and frozen! Now who doesn't like a desert that is tasty AND convenient? Not to mention how yummy they look!

Ingredients:
Crust:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
Pie:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp. vanilla
Topping:
2 bananas
chocolate syrup
cool whip, optional

Directions:
Preaheat your oven to 350 F.
Prepare your crust: In a bowl mix your cream cheese and butter until well blended. Mix in your flour. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Once dough is chilled, fill mini muffin pans, pressing the dough into the holes to make mini pie crust.

Bake for 10 minutes or until crust are brown. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Once your cups are cooled, prepare peanut butter filling. Blend the cream cheese and peanut butter together until smooth. Mix in remaining ingredients until well blended.

Fill each cup with a small spoon full of peanut butter pie mix.

Slice banana's and lay on top of each mini pie.

 

They are great here if you want to stop! I always like to go over board with my desserts though. Drizzle some chocolate or whipped cream on top and voila! Pure perfection. If you are not ready to serve these immediately, they hold well In the freezer. Put out an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Fresh Cranberry Bread

Thanksgiving had come and gone. The leaves have fallen and the weather growing colder each day. Fall has always been one of my favorite times of year. The crisp November air is enough to bring a smile to my face. Along with fall weather comes fall foods! For this year's Thanksgiving I gave cranberry bread a try. I have made it a few times with craisins but nothing beats the flavor or fresh cranberries. This bread recipe is so fluffy and moist too! It's perfect for breakfast, dessert, snacks, etc. Anytime of the day you can eat, this bread is appropriate! The original recipe is found on www.thekitchn.com/recipe-cranberry-cake-16000.

Ingredients: (Makes 1 loaf)
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temp, cubed
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract, optional
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups (12 oz bag) fresh cranberries

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease your metal loaf pan, set aside.
In a large bowl beat eggs and sugar until smooth and increased in volume. For stand mixers beat 5-7 minutes, and for hand mixers beat 6-8 minutes. You are done mixing when the batter is leaving ribbons on the top from mixing and holds its form.
Beat in the softened butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat until butter is well incorporated.
Using a spatula, fold in the remaining ingredients. The batter will be very thick. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake the bread for 60-80 minutes. I start checking mine at 40 minutes to see how the top is browning. If your loaf if browning too much, but isn't fully cooked in the middle, cover the load with tin foil for the remaining baking time. The bread is done when a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the pan 20 minutes before slicing. I recommend serving the loaf chilled (if you can wait that long! It's so good you might want to eat it right out of the pan!) I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!