Pantry Challenge - July 2012

I'm a few days behind in joining, but I am joining a Pantry Challenge over at the GoodCheapEats.com blog.  I have been looking for an active challenge to help me use up what I already have in my pantry, fridges and freezers.  I did really well in February and March (I believe those were the 2 months) by only going to the store for milk, eggs, and cheese once or twice during that time.  Somewhere around then I started buying produce from BountifulBaskets.org.  If you've never heard of BountifulBaskets I can tell you it is pretty awesome.  We get a basket full of fruits and veggies every 2 weeks for $16.50.  I did price out what I got at King Soopers once and I would have had to spend $33.50 and still not get everything I got in my BountifulBasket.  Normally I would pick up lettuce, onion, tomatoes, maybe some bananas and that is about all I'd get from the produce section (unless they had fresh corn at a good price).  Now I get tons of fruit and veggies and we eat them!  But this post is not about BountifulBaskets.  It is about using up what I already have in the house.  I'm combining this with the menu planning I've been afraid to jump into wholeheartedly but here we go now!

Since this is my first challenge, I am not going to set any outrageous goals (some people commit to not going to the grocery store at all or send only $10 in a month on food, etc.)  I am going to do my best to make meals that use what we already have in stock without extraneous trips to the grocery store.  However if I find boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.49/lb you can bet I'm going to restock my refrigerator.

Do you want to join us??

Easy Pizza Dough

Easy Pizza Dough

Here is a very easy pizza dough recipe. It can be made in your bread maker or your mixer.  I have included instructions for both below.  I use this for homemade pizza and pizza pockets.  It is very delicious!

This recipe makes enough for 2 large pizzas with medium thickness.  

1 1/2 cups warm water
4 tsp yeast
4 tsp honey
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Your favorite spices (some things I use: garlic salt, italian seasoning, onion powder, parsley, dried chopped onions, McCormick's rosemary garlic and bell pepper seasoning, Parmesan cheese)

Instructions for Bread Maker:
Put water and honey in bottom of pan, add flour.  Make well on one side and add yeast.  On other side, make another well and add your seasonings.  Close the lid, push the dough setting and let it do its magic.  Because I am at high altitude or depending on how much additional dry ingredients were added, you might need to add just a little bit of extra water.  I let the bread maker mix the ingredients and if it seems like it is not forming a ball then I add a little extra water (usually a few drops to 1/8 cup).  Don't add too much water.

Instructions for Mixer:
Put water and yeast in bottom of mixing bowl and let bloom for about 5 minutes.  Add honey, turn on mixer and start adding flour in slowly (if you have mixer on too high you will have flour everywhere - I speak from experience here). If you have to, use spatula to get flour off the sides.  Add in your spices/herbs.  If too dry add in small amount of additional water until dough forms a ball.  Put into a large bowl coated with oil or cooking spray and cover with a towel.  Let rise for about 2 hours.


Instructions for both methods after rising:
Flour large cutting board or counter and turn dough out on to board.  Knead for a couple of minutes.  Cut dough in half and put one half to the side.  Roll out with rolling pin.  If you like thick don't roll it so thin.  You can also use this to make pizza pockets/calzones.  I like my calzones to be thinner so the dough cooks through.  Remember this recipe makes enough for 2 large pizzas (I have a 16" pizza pan) with a medium thick crust.

On pizza pan, sprinkle a bit of corn meal to keep dough from sticking.  Put rolled out dough on pan and top with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in oven.  Depending on your ingredients, I generally cook at 400 degrees for 14-18 minutes.  


Variation:
If you want to make a cheese stuffed crust, roll out crust about 1 1/2 inches bigger than your pan on all sides.   Tear mozzarella cheese sticks into about 2-3 long strips each and put along edge of crust and roll in.  Crimp along all edges with fingers to keep cheese from leaking out.

Taco Casserole

Here is a recipe I got from my wonderful mother-in-law.  It is a nice easy meal and very good.

Taco Casserole

2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 pkgs taco seasoning (depending on how strong you like it)

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can evaporated milk
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cups monterey jack/colby or mexican mix cheese (a good melting chicken)

Brown ground beef, onion together in large skillet or pot. Add taco seasoning and mix.  Add both soups, evaporated milk and enchilada sauce.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Line bottom of baking dish with nacho flavored Doritos*.  Pour in meat mixture and top with grated cheddar cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese melts and mixture is bubbling well along sides.


Remove from oven and let set up for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa or other favorite toppings.  My husband also enjoys eating the leftovers in tortillas.


* I did not have the nacho flavored Doritos so I used plain tortilla chips and sprinkled them with taco seasoning.  You want a good layer of chips, don't make it too thin.  I also sprinkled the top with some taco seasoning after I put on the cheese.

Fell off the Face of the Earth

Ok, so I did not really fall over the face of the earth, but my blog has been ignored for the last several months.  So what have I been doing during this time?  Well to tell you the truth, I haven't been doing much crafting.  I think I got burned out after doing several swaps and crafting 3-6 days a week for almost 3 years.  I just needed a break from it all.  I did make (and mail) about a dozen Christmas cards and have been getting together with friends about once a month since November so I'm slowly getting back into it.

I also got into couponing which was taking A LOT of time.  I have found an easier way to organize my coupons though so it does not take near as long (I file my inserts by date and only cut the coupons I need for my shopping trip).  By couponing, I cut my grocery bill from $125/week to $35-$40/week (and now I spend that about once every 2 weeks!!).  Occasionally I will still have a bigger trip but that is usually when I am loading up on meat or don't have coupons for the things I am buying.  I have quite a stockpile now and am trying to use what I have for our meals.  It is working really well so that other than picking up a couple of special items for my daughter's birthday dinner, I have been able to cook for us using items in my stockpile. What is even better is that I have been able to make about 3-4 meals and snack/side items for a family who is having to spend a great deal of time at the hospital as their son has been in ICU for almost 2 weeks.  So the last 2-3 weeks, I have been cooking a lot more.  We are really enjoying making homemade pizzas and crockpot applebutter (so easy).  As soon as I can get a good hamburger deal (93% lean), I am going to make homemade pepperoni!  Here's the recipe if you are interested.  I haven't tried it yet because hamburger is too expensive right now.

I also spent a good deal of time over the Christmas Holidays to work on my genealogy which I've not touched much in the last 18 months or so.  Felt so good to find some new info!  I can't wait until April 2nd when the 1940's census becomes available.  I know, I know, but for genealogists this is a goldmine of information!  Call us weird, because we are!

So if you start seeing posts unrelated to crafting, just remember that I warned you first!

Patriotic Mini Album For ScrapbookPal.Com Design Team

This month the wonderful folks over at ScrapbookPal.com sent me Viva Decor Pearl Pens in all sorts of colors and my favorite adhesive Scor-Tape!!  I had decided I wanted to do a paper bag mini album this month and was so excited to be able to use my new Viva Decor Pens.

Project by Tammy White

I started with 3 - 12 3/8" x 6 1/8" paper bags and folded them in half.  I then inked all of the edges with Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad.  I then took 2 - 11" x 5 1/4" inch lunch bags and folded them in thirds and inked those edges too.

I used the K&Co Americana 12 x 12 paper pack for my papers.  I cut 10 pages at about 6" x 6" and distressed the edges using the Tim Holtz Distressing Tool and inked the edges with the Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad.   I cut photos mats out of the same paper at 4" x 4" and 3" x 3" and distressed those the same way.  I attached the papers to the paper bags using Scor-Tape.

For the front and back covers, I cut chipboard at approximately 6 1/8" tall x 6 3/8" long.  I painted the chipboard navy blue.  I used the paper from the Americana  pack with the flag on it for the front and back.  I distressed them the same way as the interior papers and attached to the chipboard with the Scor-Tape.  I attached the first paper bag to the inside front cover and the last paper bag to the inside back cover with the Scor-Tape.

The letters spelling out "America" are from one of the papers in the pack which I hand cut and then attached to tags I made from the left over papers.  The "A, M and E" are small tags measuring 4" long x 2" tall.  The "I, C and A" are 11" long x 5 1/2" wide made with solid color cardstock folded in half.  The "R" is not a tag and is just attached to the back inside cover with Scor-Tape.

I used my Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite to punch holes in the pages and covers and then used jute twine to attach all of the pages together.  I also cut a small piece of Tim Holtz Grunge Paper and attached it with the Scor-Tape to the inside edges of the covers.

As you can see in the pictures, I used the Viva Decor pearl pens throughout the pages to add texture and dimension and then embellished with adhesive rhinestones, tickets, and mini flowers.  I used a Gold Viva Decor Pearl Pen to color in the bell I cut at 2 1/4" from the Independence Day Cricut Cartridge.  I used a Silver Viva Decor Pearl Pen to write "And Proud of It".

I hope you enjoyed this mini album and that I've inspired you to make one of your own!

Fairy House Mini Album with Graphic 45 Paper

Laura Denison over at FollowingThePaperTrail, created this incredible Fairy House mini album using the new Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime 8x8 paper stack.  I fell in love with it and bought the instructions so I could make it.

You can buy the instructions on Laura's site at http://www.followthepapertrailwithlaura.com/store/hexagon-box-mini-album.  I would suggest you also watch her Ustream videos (there are 3) associated with this project as some of the instructions are not as detailed as I needed them in the pdf and the video is a great supplement.

Note: Since taking the pictures, I inked the edges of the photo cards inside the house.

The top of the house lifts off to reveal the mini album inside. 

Ready For Summer BBQ's - ScrapbookPal.Com Design Team Post

Somehow the end of the school year is upon us which means grilling is about to become a near daily thing around our house.  I am always jealous of people who have cute items out at their BBQs so I decided to make some cute things for my own BBQs using the new Luau Solutions Cricut Cartridge I received from ScrapbookPal.com.

Project by Tammy White

I have several of the off-brand Crystal Lite type of containers that I have been saving for a project, knowing they would one day come in handy!!  I simply covered the containers in solid color cardstock using Scor-Tape to attach the paper to the container.

I then cut the 3 shapes (and their single layer) at 5" and attached to the cardstock with Pop Up Glue Dots.  I used Green, Tea Dye and Yellow Stickles Glitter Glue on a couple of the shapes to give them some dimension.  FYI - the tiki wrap around shape, last button on bottom row of keypad, it does not have a layer.  Also to make sure it would fit my container, I used Cricut Design Studio and stretched it to approximately 8.75" long by 5.7" and then cut the hanger off the top.

Because the containers are rather tall, I put a paper towel at the bottom of the ones I used for the spoons and forks.  If you are going on a picnic, the plastic utensils fit great inside these containers and you can put the lids on to keep them clean.  You could also put napkins inside one of the containers. 

I hope you have a wonderful summer!!

Time to Organize - New Resolution

Now that I am back from my 5 day crop (swarm to you cricuteers) in La Porte, IN, I am wanting to get my new craft room organized before I get all my stuff unpacked so that I can just put it in it's proper place.  I've been watching some craft related organization videos and reading some articles over at The ScrapRack blog and they have put me in an organizing mood.  I am not affiliated with the ScrapRack in any shape or form (I don't own one either), but the principles can still be applied without purchasing the system.

So I started with my paper stacks/theme packs tonight.  Once I sorted them out, I counted them and found that I have 97 paper stacks/theme packs!!  This does not include the individual loose sheets or my solid color cardstock packs.  I am sure I will find a few more stacks as I start moving stuff around but I was kind of (mildly) shocked that I have so many.  If I were to stack them all together, I am pretty sure I would have a stack higher than I am tall (5'6").  My new resolution is to not buy any more paper stacks (unless they are Graphic 45 stacks - I just can't give those up) for the rest of the year.  I'm trying to be reasonable in my resolution, I will not succeed if I say never, but I MIGHT succeed if I say no more for the next 8 months.  That sounds like forever too, maybe I better go with until the kids start back to school in August...   

I was happy to find that in all those stacks, I only had 2 duplicates and 1 of those was sent to me in a swap after I had already purchased it.  I'm going to put the duplicates in a box of stuff I'm collecting for my mom who has very few craft supplies.  That qualifies as purging right???!!

Crud, I just found another paper stack - that makes 98!  I better stop counting!

Wish You Were Here - ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Post

This month I received the cute Luau Limited Edition Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com.  The cart is on sale for $23.99 right now so don't miss your chance to own this adorable cart!

I am at a 5 day crop this week and was feeling a little sassy when planning my project.  I hope you get a giggle out of it.

Project by Tammy White

Using the Luau cartridge, I cut the bar (3rd row, 4th button) at 4" and the layer (4th row, 4th button).  I ran the thatch roof through my Cuttlebug with the Distress Stripes Embossing Folder and then used a Colorbox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad in Toffee to highlight the texture.  I used Dried Marigold and Antique Bronze Distress Stickles and Cinnamon Stickles to highlight the items on the bar.  For the sand, I handcut some tan paper and then stamped the "sand" with a Stampin' Up stamp using the Antique Linen Distress Inkpad. I used the brush end of a Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Chocolate to write "He He He" on the bottom corner of the "sand" strip.  I used Pop Up Glue Dots on the bar and the palm fronds to give some dimension to the card.


Using the Life's A Beach cart, I cut the Palm Tree at 3" and then used Cinnamon Stickles on the tree trunk and brush end of a Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Light Green on the edges of the palm fronds.

I used the Fiskars Border Punch Threading Water on the edge of my card stock and the same patterned paper I used for the base of the bar.  I adhered these to a green cardstock. 

For the sentiment, I wrote it using the brush end of a Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Chocolate and then used Cinnamon Stickles over it.

That's all there is to it.  A nice and easy card for you try.

Happy Mother's Day Card

I felt so excited that I was able to make nice masculine Father's Day cards for my dad and my father-in-law, based on Mojo Monday sketches, that I thought I would try another sketch for a Mother's Day card.  I liked sketch #184 and was inspired by a card posted by one of the Mojo Monday designers, Sarah Bigelow (blog link here).  Here are cards for my mother and mother-in-law, I just hope I get them in the mail so they can enjoy them.

The paper is from the K&Company Cut N' Paste paper pack which is one of my favorites.  The stamp set is an old Stampin' Up! set.

Happy Father's Day Card

While at my crop in La Porte, Indiana, I made this Father's Day card.  I used a sketch for the first ever!!  The sketch was from Mojo Monday (#188).  I used the Sense of Time stamp, Decorative Label Punch, and Scallop Border Punch from Stampin' Up!.  The scallop circle was cut using my Classic Scallop Circle Large Nestibilities and the "W" metal is a Tim Holtz Philosophy Tag.

If you guys ever get the chance, I HIGHLY recommend Michelle's Memory Loft in La Porte, IN for a crop if you are in the Illinois, Indiana, Ohio (or in our case Colorado) area.  It was worth the 16 hour drive (each way).  Truly a great location!!

It's a BABY

I am in La Porte, Indiana at "The Loft" for a 5 day crop.  We are having a blast and I actually completed 2 projects on the first partial day!!!

Here is the first project - I have a friend who is pregnant and due in mid-July.  I made this for her shower which is May 21st.  She does not want to know the sex of the baby so she is decorating the room in brown and light green with elephants.  I used the elephant from the Holiday Cakes Cricut Cartridge and the rest of the animals are from Create a Critter.  I hope she likes it!

ScrapbookPal.com Blog Hop

Are you ready for Spring??  I know I am although we've had a very mild winter here in Colorado.  The tulips and daffodils are just starting to come and the grass is getting green so it is the perfect time for the ScrapbookPal Flower Power Blog Hop!!


For your chance to win a free Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com, you will need to hop along to each blog and leave comments along the way and then return to the ScrapbookPal blog to become a follower and leave a final comment for a chance to win a Cartridge of their choice.  You also get a 2nd entry by "liking" ScrapbookPal's facebook page and leaving a comment there.  See the ScrapbookPal blog (first and last links below) for more details.

For the blog hop, I made this magnetic bulletin board.   More photos and instructions for my bulletin board project appears below the blog hop links.

Blog Hop Links - Be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment at each.  Then stop back by the ScrapbookPal blog and leave a comment when you finish.  Those who visit all of the designers blogs will be entered into a drawing for a free cartridge!

ScrapbookPal Blog (http://scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)
Amy Crockett (http://www.scrappingmommy.com/)
Tomi Ann Hill (http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/)
Cheryl Walker (http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/)
Leah Cornelius(http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/)
Jamie Cripps (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Crystal Butler (http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/)
Tammy White   YOU ARE HERE!
ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)

I made a magnetic bulletin board using a 12 x 16 blank painter's canvas, metal roof flashing, a cork sheet and inexpensive magnets from Michael's.  You would never know it from looking that it is magnetic would you??

I took some left over roof flashing (you can buy small rolls at your local hardware store) and cut it to fit the left side (approx 12" tall by 10" wide) of my bulletin board using tin snips.  Be careful because the cut edges are sharp.  I adhered the flashing to the front of a 12 x 16 painter's canvas.  I used E6000 adhesive and some clamps until the adhesive was dry.  Then I took a 12 x 12 piece of designer paper and wrapped it around the back of the canvas.   I used 1/4" Scor-Tape along the edges of the flashing to hold the paper down on the front side.  This is one of my favorite tape adhesives!  If you have not tried it, I highly suggest your order a roll or two or three from ScrapbookPal and try it.  I adhered the paper on the back of the canvas with Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  Because the 12 x 12 paper won't cover the whole canvas and have room to wrap around, I wrapped it around the left and bottom edges only.  I trimmed the corners so I had a nice looking edge.   I used black satin ribbon to create the diamond shapes on the right side using the Tombow adhesive to adhere them.   My ribbon sections are about 2.5" apart.  I used Craft Glue Dots under each intersection/cross point of the ribbon to hold it in place.  I then added a rhinestone at each intersection for some bling. On the left side, I cut another piece of coordinating designer paper to about 7.5" wide by 12" tall.  I again used the Scor-Tape to hold the paper in place and wrapped the edges around the right and bottom sides.  Again adhering the back with Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive.  I tried to keep these edges nice and even so the back would look almost as nice as the front.  I cut a piece of cork I purchased on a roll approximately 5" wide by 10" tall.  I adhered this with the E6000 adhesive and used small clamps on the edge to hold it down until dried.

Because the bulletin board is longer than my 12x12 paper, for the top I used a striped paper to help cover the seam which I then cover with a ribbon anyway.  I cut 2 pieces at approximately 3.5" wide.  I wrapped them over the top and around the edges and then trimmed away the excess paper.  Before attaching the top paper to the canvas I cut some circles on my Cricut and then ran them through my Cuttlebug with the the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.  I lined these up and then adhered them to the back side of the paper.  I then adhered the paper to the canvas.  To cover us the seams I used a ribbon.  I made 3 small flowers using the Paisley cartridge on my Cricut.  I cut 3 scalloped circles at 1.5" (Doll1 Button Icon, p. 66) using Real Dial Size on white cardstock and then 3 scalloped circles at 1" (same button) on pink.  I spritzed the cuts with water and crumpled them up.  I unfolded them and then began to shape the flowers.  I used my emobssing heat gun and dried the flowers shaping as I went.  Using chalk (or a blender pen and ink pad work great too), I colored the edges of the white cardstock.  I then layered the flowers and used the Tombo Adhesive to hold them together.  I then spritzed the flowers with Dazzling Diamond Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  I adhered them to the ribbon using the Tombow Adhesive but glue dots or hot glue work great too.

For the magnets, I purchased the $1 packages of glass magnets at Michaels.  Using an exacto knife to loosen the glue, I peeled off the magnet and removed the paper (very easy to do).  I cut small circles out of my matching designer paper to fit under the glass piece of the magnet.  Using Matte or Glossy Accents, I lightly smeared some on the back of the glass piece and then placed the paper under the glass.  Once dried I used more of the Matte or Glossy Accents to attach the magnet onto the back of the glass again sandwiching the designer paper in between. 

I hope you enjoyed this project and try it for yourself.  Thank you for joining us for the ScrapbookPal Flower Power Blog Hop.