{primal} chocolate earth bites

Here's another recipe I tried out as we watch our carbs. We were pretty happy with this recipe. Good to know there are healthy, tasty bites out there!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons carob powder or unsweetened organic cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (gluten-free, if desired)
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.)

Directions:
1. Before measuring the peanut butter, stir it up well.
2. Mix the peanut butter, honey and carob or cocoa powder until well combined. Stir in the raisins and 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
3. Place the remaining coconut, sesame seeds and nuts into 3 separate bowls. Using a spoon, scoop small heaps of the peanut mixture from the bowl; roll into 1 1/4-inch balls.
4. I found its easiest to roll in only 2 of the coconut, sesame seeds, or nuts, and not all 3 (not all of it can stick). Arrange the balls on a plate, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Nutritional Info: 

Per Serving:Serving size: 1 each, 110 calories (70 from fat), 8g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 40mg sodium, 10g carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 3

{primal} pork & sauerkraut

In keepign with watching carbs, I found this new favorite pork & sauerkraut recipe. SO tender and great flavor! Who knew it could be this good without ALL the brown sugar we usually use with it!

Ingredients:
1-2 pork tenderloins (about 3 lbs. total)
1 15 oz. can sauerkraut
3 packets stevia
salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Spray slow cooker liner with cooking spray, or use a slow cooker plastic liner. Place tenderloin(s) in slow cooker. Pour sauerkraut (& juices) on top of pork, sprinkle sauerkraut with stevia packets, & salt and pepper.
2. Cook on LOW for 5+ hours. (Original recipe says to cook for 6-7 hours, but my meat is always done LONG before then. I use a meat thermometer on an alarm to tell me when its done.)

{new favorite} congo bars

I love chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip brownies (aka blondies or congo bars). But this is my NEW favorite version of Congo Bars. They have great flavor and are so nice and chewy. I made a 9x13 pan this past weekend, took it as dessert for our family (of 13) dinner and brought home only 4! I guess everyone else thought they were good too!

Congo Bars Recipe:
(Recipe adapted from Bakerella)

Ingredients:
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. butter, softened
2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
*1 package milk chocolate chips (about 2 c.) OR use 1 c. chocolate chips & 1 c. M&Ms like I did :)
1 c. chopped pecans
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour and mix until combined. Stir in chips and then pecans.
2. Coat a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

{sewing} hooded towels

I started making these hooded bath towels maybe a year ago? I really like them. I think they make great baby gifts, and they're so quick! All you need 1 a bath towel & 1/2 a hand towel, along with thread and pins of course. (I usually buy 2 towels and 1 hand towel to make 2 towels.)

I like this pattern because the hood part isn't all pokey.
See the instructions in the link above. Here is my step one of sewing the 2 wrong side middles together.

The finished product all rolled up and ready to GIFT! (If I'm calculating correctly I think I've made at least 10 of these so far!) I like using these for baby gifts because it seems like after about 2-3 months old, the baby is too big for the baby hooded  towels. These give them enough room to grow and stay warm and dry!

Here are my 2 boys bundled up in their's.

fabric luggage tags for business cards

Early this past summer I found these cute luggage tags for business cards, and decided I wanted to make A BUNCH! I made 10 for all our bags for our Summer Vacation and then I had some materials left over so I decided to make some up for all the gals in my family for Christmas! Kinda fun I think!

Follow the link above for the better "How To" pictures and instructions. Use this link for instructions on making the strap, which is what I'm doing in this picture.

When it comes to sewing over the vinyl, I found this help that said to take off my presser foot, put tape on in (so it glides over easier), and cut the whole out in the middle for the needle.

 

That's what I did here.

I used clothespins to hold my business card in place while I sewed around it.

**Don't have a business card? I used some Avery 8371 business cards. They're great! I just run them through my printer and can change my luggage tags inserts out as I need to!

I think they turned out pretty cute! Hooray!

a glimpse into the world of Photoshop

Almost a year ago, I bought a combo of 2 digital Photoshop classes at 50%+ off. I'm finally getting around to trying them out.

Both classes are at JessicaSprague.com (however I can't find them to link you to them. Maybe they're not available anymore and that's why they were on sale?)

Anyhow, the first class was called Up & Running with Photoshop. It's a beginners course for using Photoshop Elements (free 30 day trial here) to scrapbook, etc.

I'm finding out it's a whole new world out there! I fear this Photoshop world may be a bottomless pit, and I'm just on the brink! (Oh and I'm loving it!) I had so much fun with this class! I couldn't wait until I had a few spare minutes to do the next bit of the lesson.

I made this adorable THEN & NOW of Levi in my 1st task. It's VERY simple. Everything's all put together for you, just add in the photos and text. I think they call this a "quick layout".

The next lesson was on this 5 THINGS I LOVE... about Jackson. The template was a bit more bare and I learned how to add the cute papers to the templates (GENIUS!), along with adding in photos and texts, and learned about making shapes, filling them in, etc (which was very teadious and NOT my favorite part.)

My 3rd lesson was making this TIME TOGETHER page of hubby & I. I was able to use the fun "photo booth" pics from our cousin's wedding. I really like how this one turned out.

My last lesson was putting this HELLO HOME page together from start to finish. I made my own shapes and attached the cute papers to them, did my own shadowing, text boxes, text, shape boxes for pictures, added pictures, added embellishments and then learned how to tone them down a little.

It was very gratifying to see this last page all come together. It really makes you appreciate the simplicity of the quick layouts or even the templated pages. Anyhow, I really enjoyed this class! I can see how this could take a LOT of my time if I were to do ALL my pages this way, but that's not how I plan to use it, just a page now and then. I have my Project Life scrapbook system I love using (quick, simple, and DONE!) and think I'll just accent it with some Photoshop pages. (Although Project Life is also available in digital form from Jessica Sprague. I may end up trying this class later.)

*Note: The 2nd class I'm taking is a beginner's photo editting class. I'm a couple lessons in now and am BORED with it. Honestly, 10+ steps to edit 1 picture is not my way of doing things. If I was a professional photographer, then yes, but my Camera+ app on my phone does a great quick job for me and I think I'll stick with that!

I was just checking over my post and realized all the pages are essentially turquoise on brown/tan paper. I didn't choose them. They came with the class. Interesting though.

18 freezer meals +10 easy dinners

I was compiling a list of favorite freezer meals (and easy meals) for my "baby" sister who's having her 1st baby within the next couple of weeks. I thought you all might benefit from this list too, AND I love having all of this here, in one spot! Enjoy!

Here are a few different categories:
1. Meals with little to NO cooking prior to freezing:

Slow-cooker french dip sandwiches- this is a MUST! So easy and SO tasty!
Crockpot chicken teriyaki- make this now! SO yummy!
Slow-cooker BBQ spareribs- this makes a big batch. If it's just the 3 of you I'd split this into 2 bags for 2 meals or you'll be eating it all week!
Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn & Black Beans (omit whatever you don't like, but this is great. Cook it and shred the chicken after. Add to tortillas!)
Slow-cooker pot roast or roast beef

2. Meals with some cooking & prep work prior to freezing:
Chicken tortilla soup (SO YUMMY!)
Chicken enchilada casserole
Taco Soup
Mexican pasta bake
Baked creamy chicken taquitos- so tasty!
White Bean Chicken Chili
Baked ravioli- new family favorite
Priest Lake Lasagne
Baked Ziti

Here are some other sites I found with recipes that'd fit in with my freezer meals!
How to stock your freezer with freezer meals
Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne
BBQ Pulled-Pork Sandwiches (on my list at home waiting to try)
8 freezer meals in 1 hour (I've made some of these. The chicken broccoli alfredo is still in my freezer waiting to be tried.)
Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

3. EASY meals for after baby (or whenever)
TOO easy Clam Chowder
Braided Pizza Loaf
Mozzarella Ham Stromboli
Black Bean Quesadillas
Skillet Mac & Cheese
Stir-fried Asparagus & Chicken
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Herb-roasted Crockpot Chicken
Dinner party Chicken
Chicken Milan