Simple Dessert/ Blog Hop/ Great CVS deal

DESSERT:
Tonight I made the easiest and most delicious dessert. I call it zebra cake, i know it has other names though. It takes about 10 minutes to make, and about 4-6 hours to chill.
what you need:
1 tsp vanilla extract
8oz heavy whipping cream (near coffee creamer)
1 package 9 oz of famous chocolate wafer cookies (near the oreos usually)

-mix the cream and vanilla in a bowl until it has the consistency of whipped cream.
-Layer the cream onto the cookies, some use a spoon, my mom and I always dipped our fingers in and got super messy. You want a good amount on each cookie.
-layer the cookies in a log shape (exactly how they come in the box but now with cream). You can do this on a plate or you can use a bread pan as I do.
-cover entire log with remaining cream
-if desired sprinkle chocolate shavings or cookie crumbs over top of the log (i never have)
-chill for 4-6 hours. It's served cold so it doesn't matter how long you keep it in but you want the wafers to get soft
-EAT!!!

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CVS DEAL
some of you may or may not know but I have recently fallen in love with CVS and RiteAid.
This week there are no special deals or great savings to get excited over but one that isn't half bad.

Look for the The P&G Insert in this Sundays paper which also includes the CVS weekly ad showing ECB’s for this product. You can get a Oral-B Vitality Toothbrush for FREE starting on Sunday!

Here’s How To Work Your MoJo:

$23.00 Oral-B Vitality Toothbrush
- 10.00 with $10.00/1 Oral-B Vitality Toothbrush 09/26/2010 P&G Insert (exp 10/31/10)
- 13.00 ECB (use on future purchase)
= $ 0.00 or FREE after coupon and ECB

and since the limit on this is 2 – you can run the deal twice and end up with two Free Oral-B Toothbrushes!! Just use your $13.00 ECB and another $10.00 coupon on your second transaction and get 2 for FREE plus you’ll have the other $13 ECB from the 2nd transaction to use on future purchases!!

Thanks to MojoSavings

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BLOG HOP FRIDAY
Just linked in to another friend finder blog hop. This looks pretty good, lots of entries!!

A Twist on Pigs in a Blanket

The husband and I have very little as far as food in our fridge at the moment, so last night when we were contemplating what to make for dinner tonight we remembered that lone pound of ground turkey sitting in the middle of the freezer.

I love ground turkey and found you can use it almost anywhere that calls for ground beef so I thought about using it in a spaghetti sauce. But for some reason or another the idea came to me to make a variation on pigs in a blanket using ground turkey meatloaf logs.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey1 egg
1 package crescent rolls (we use garlic flavored)
any seasoning you prefer (we used: breadcrumbs, dried onions, and garlic powder)
1 package mozzarella cheese (not shown)

Materials:
bowl to mix ingredients
baking sheet for rolls
frying pan to cook the meatloaf logs

Step 1: Mix Turkey and egg in a bowl with your seasoning ingredients. We flavor to taste so I don't have measurements.Step 2: take the mixture and roll into small "logs". The best way I can describe them is the same size and shape as a cocktail weenie or a breakfast sausage link.Step 3: Preheat your oven to cook your rolls. Brown the "logs" in a skillet until they are cooked or at least mostly cooked (we overcook everything). I would say about 8-10 minutes total, flipping half way depending on the thickness.

Step 4: Once the "logs" are browned, place them on a paper towel on e plate to soak up the small amount of grease. Roll out your crescents on your baking sheet. Just like with pigs in a blanket you want to roll your turkey "log" up in to the crescent. We added mozzarella cheese inside the crescent as we rolled it up.

Step 5: Please your rolls in the oven. The recommended cook time was 11-13 minutes but we had to cook them about 5 extra minutes to account for the addition of the turkey.

Step 6: take your rolls out of the oven, wait for them to cool and enjoy. You can dip them in a sauce to make them the perfect appetizer. We used some spaghetti sauce since we had them before a pasta dinner (in which we used the extra turkey logs as "sausage")

I DID IT!!

I was browsing around on the blogger-sphere of course and I came across what may be my new favorite blog. It's www.bluecricketdesign.net
She has a ton of tutorials (TONS) and every single one was something I wanted to try to make for myself. I am such a copy cat. The first project I decided to try was from a guest poster at Flamingo Toes. Her inspiration was a necklace from Anthropology (why don't we have one of them here in PA?). Here's the original necklace I think it's adorable, I love the color the fabric and everything but who would pay $38.00 for a necklace? Someone, but not me.So she tackled the project herself and her result was adorable. Here's her blog tutorial on the fabric necklace
For a novice sewer like myself this project was about an 11 out of 10. I sewed and re-sewed, and threw out and unstitched. OH it was so aggravating. I've never been so frustrated. I bought beads to use and couldn't get them to fit, I was busting seams, my material wasn't right and yadda yadda. I don't have during pictures but I have my end result and I am very pleased with myself.

Floor Cushion - I Did It!

If you haven't been over to "The Crafty Charlestonian" blog yet, stop reading and sprint on over (or click). She has amazing blogs about every topic imaginable. One of these blogs was "a land of Nod inspired floor Cushion". The idea came from another blogger who is also a must follow, "Living With Punks".



The tutorial for these cushions can be found HERE


I have never used a sewing machine outside of a small pillow project in Home and Careers, and even when I attempted sewing a scrap piece of material to test out my new sewing machine it was a bust. never-the-less they said this was an easy strep by step tutorial and even a novice could do it, so I decided to try.



What I used:

-1 yard of upholstery fabric (finding a boy pattern was hard) - on sale for $6.99

-2 packages of pre-made piping (i had to buy twice because I had no idea what to find... what you want is the bias tape with maxi piping (usually near zippers). Joann carries Wrights brand and it's around $2 a package

-thread (it's good to have a contrasting color from your material and a matching color (to finish)

-16-24 ox fiberfill (wal-mart/joann). The 16 ox bags are like $4 but I like a lot of stuffing (luckily I had a ton lying around from my wedding)

---total cost ~$20 for everything



go HERE and read the tutorial, and here's what i made!!!!

it's roughly 17" across and 9" high. I'm not near my normal computer so there aren't more photos to show you (long story) but this came out so adorable. Of course I stuffed mine to the brim with fiberfill but you can leave yours a little more pliable.

I also didn't leave the handle as slack as I should have in order to carry but it still works.

I will make one small adjustment. When you cut the big strip to go around, I would sew the handle on first, instead of later as you will notice in the tutorial, especially if you are short on room and/or talent like me.

ENJOY, and if any of you make one please share it with me!!!

Oreo Truffles

This is a conflicting recipe. It calls for oreos which are my least favorite of all snack foods (I know, how can I be a mom and human and not like them??) and chocolate which isn't always a favorite of mine.

However, it also calls to mix those ingredients with Cream Cheese, and that's why this recipe is for me.

Here's what you need:

1 - package of oreo cookies (I used generic brand)
1 - package of cream cheese (8 oz)
1 or 2 - bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips
a way to mash the cookies (i used the good old rolling pin and
plastic bag method, but a hand mixer works as well

Prep time: 10 minutes
total cook time: depends (for me 2 hours - includes an hour + of refrigeration)

Step 1: Crush cookies until they are a fine dusting (or as close to fine as you can get

Step 2: add cream cheese to the chopped oreos (it's best if cream cheese is room temperature, but if using a mixer it will work still cold)

Step 3: Rolls the mixture into small 1" balls (they look like meatballs). Place these balls on a tray to cool in the refrigerator. They should cool for about an hour to make them a little easier to use later on.

Step 4: You need to use a double boiler to melt your chocolate chips. I don't have a double boiler so I always improvise (sorry for the messy stove).
-for anyone who needs to know how to create a double boiler what I used was a small sauce pan half full of water an a glass mixing bowl. I let the water boil, set the glass bowl inside with the chocolate chips and stirred the chips until the consistency was right.

Step 5: This part is the hardest in my opinion. The point is to cover the oreo balls with the melted chocolate. It does not take long for the chocolate to start re-hardening so you have to be quick about this process. Many people suggest using two forks to hold the ball and allow the chocolate to drip through the slots. My chocolate is never runny enough to drip so I usually just use my hands or a spoon. They don't have to be perfect so have fun, and involve the kids on this part most of all!!!

And when you're done coating I recommend putting them back the fridge or freezer to harden the chocolate. As you can see mine didn't turn out great esthetically, but they are delicious.
I will warn you though, these are very very very rich. I can usually only eat one at a time and I have to include a whole glass of milk.

You can also try other ingredients, peanut butter oreos, peanut butter chocolate chips, adding vanilla flavoring. Test it out, and see what you think!!

Bon Apetite

Tu^3-torial

I searched online for ideas and tutorials on how to create a tutu, and the basic concept was the same but everyone puts their own spin on things, minor touches you can change here and there. So I came up with my own tutorial to show you all how I create my poofy little creations.
(this tutorial is for a basic hand tied tutu using tulle)

Step 1: Gather materials
Tulle (you can use any color or any number of colors) I usually use about 10 yards of cut tulle, or 2 rolls (50 yards). This is good for a 15" tutu. For this tutorial I used a 25 yard roll of ivory and a 25 yard roll of pink, but will include photos for anyone using regular by the yard tulle
Ribbon or elastic (I usually use 1" ribbon or 1/2" elastic ribbon)
Needle and thread
Rotary Cutter (if you have one they come in very handy)

Step 2: Measure your little one:
Waist: Simple enough, measure around where you would like the skirt to hit. Keep in mind when you are using Ribbon to triple the measurement (if she measures 15" cut your ribbon to 45"). IF you are using elastic make sure to cut the elastic roughly 2" shorter than her measurement (15" and you would cut at 13")
Length of skirt: There are sites that have averages but if you are making your own make it custom. If you want a foofy floor length tutu measure from her waist to the ground. If you want more ballerina then measure waist to knee. It's up to you. Typically When I do a 15" waistband I will cut the tulle so that it falls to 10" (I will discuss cutting the tulle later)

Step 3: If you are using elastic you need to sew the ends together to create a circle


Step 4: cut your tulle (this is where a rotary cutter comes in so handy). If you use the large yardage of tulle from the fabric store this part can be time consuming. You need to cut long strips to use. You can make your strips any width you want but I usually use 5" strips. The best way to do this is to lay the fabric out, cut it into smaller pieces (i measure off 30" pieces), roll the fabric up, and cut it in to 5" sections (refer to pictures)


If you are using the rolls of tulle they come in 6" which you can leave as is, this is very simple.

Step 5: Now you must cut the strips in to your desired length, it is important to remember that you must double the measurement you wanted (my skirt will be 10" so I will double it to give me 20"). Also it is recommended that you add a little extra to account for the ribbon or elastic (I usually cut mine to 22" to be safe)


You should end up with a hefty stack of tulle strips (6"x22" in this case)

Step 6: It's time to start tying the tulle to your ribbon or elastic. The best tipe I've found was to use your thigh to stretch the elastic to work with. You can also use something of a similar size, as it is 100 times easier to tie knots when the elastic isn't moving around on you.
I gather up two strips of tulle together (you can use one, two or three, up to you) and fold them in half keeping the looped end by my fingers.


Some people use shoelace knots, but I prefer the larks head (or macrame) knot (photos below). It is important to not tie your knots too tight, as this will cause the elastic to bunch and it won't stretch the way it should. I have found it very very very difficult to keep the ribbon un-bunched so I usually let it roll up under the knots.


You continue doing this until the entire waistband is covered in knots.

I like to tie mine very tight and pack in as many as I can, but you can leave them looser if you want a more flowy skirt, again play around to see what you think is best.

Step 7: Enjoy your creation!!


Side note: The tutu in the photo was created by putting two knots of each color together. You can create any pattern with your knots. Experiment with colors, and patterns and enjoy the variations that are possible!!!!